Cinematic masterpiece Saltburn, (2023) directed by Academy Award winning Emerald Ferrell, is a fascinating study in perverse autonomy. Barry Keoghan stars in the psychological drama Saltburn from which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor. Keoghan plays Oliver Quick, a bright, young, brooding social outcast who lands at Oxford and is quickly drawn to the handsome and aristocratic Felix Catton. Oliver strategically enters Felix’s inner circle by casting himself as a poor unfortunate soul, drenched in familial madness and tragedy and thus secures an invitation to spend the summer at Felix’s grand ancestral home in the British countryside. The tropes of Brideshead Revisited and The Talented Mr. Ripley are reworked with fascinating freshness.
Most of the story locates at the massive Saltburn, a grand estate complete with a labyrinth and colorful characters. Mesmerizing cinematography captures the opulence of the British upper class juxtaposed with grotesque ways in which the repressed returns in ruthless and devouring relational enactments.
Join us in exploring these evocative themes, stirring rich psychoanalytic dialogue about essential early relationships, environmental conditions, un-held losses and the impact of these on one’s creative aliveness and establishing cohesive, autonomous selfhoods.
Mary Starks MA, LPCC, is licensed psychoanalytic therapist in private practice in Santa Monica, CA and holds a post graduate certification in Infant and Family Clinical Practice from the Harris Institute. She specializes in working with adults with childhood trauma and facilitates virtual Circle of Security Parenting Groups. She has a special interest in Psychoanalytic Film Theory and is a rising Mental Health Coordinator in Film/TV.
Josh Richmond, MPW, FIPA, offers psychotherapy and psychoanalysis for adults at his office in South Pasadena. He is a psychoanalyst and a graduate of the New Center for Psychoanalysis of Los Angeles, where he is also on faculty, and a member of the American Psychoanalytic Association and the International Psychoanalytic Association. Joshua C. Richmond is in the process of getting certified in Transference-Focused Psychotherapy, an evidence-based modality designed to treat personality disorders such as Borderline Personality Disorder and Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Joshua C. Richmond was an Adjunct Professor at Cal State Fullerton for four years and is a vested member of the Writers Guild of America West. He served on the Board of Directors for the New Center for Psychoanalysis as a past CAO President and currently serves on the Program Committee.
