Saltburn viewers say the 'period sex' scene is worse than the bathtub scene

13 December 2023, 15:19

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By Katie Louise Smith

"Everyone talking about the bathtub scene in Saltburn when the real enemy is that period blood scene."

It's safe to say that Saltburn has well and truly left the timeline in a shambles. The Emerald Fennell-directed film starring Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi (amongst a whole host of other stars) has divided viewers over the shocking scenes that unfold in the movie.

From the bathtub scene to the grave scene and everything in between, people have been sharing their horror/disgust/delight over Barry's character Oliver and what he does during his scandalous stay with the Catton family. (Some people have even reported people walking out of the cinema and not coming back because of it...)

But there's another scene in particular that people are losing it over and it involves Oliver and Felix's sister Venetia in a very... bloody situation.

READ MORE: Joey King responds to Jacob Elordi slamming The Kissing Booth movies

Shortly after comments about the bathtub scene went viral, people started pointing out that the period sex scene and even the grave scene were "just as crazy". (If you wanna know about grave scene, you can read all about it right here.)

The 'period' scene features Barry's Oliver going down on Venetia (played by Alison Oliver) while she's on her period – and he embraces it, quite enthusiastically, actually. At the end of the scene, Oliver's face and Venetia's nightgown are shown to be covered in blood.

'Period sex' and menstrual blood in general are still considered taboo topics and are rarely shown on screen or spoken about in real life. As a result, people have been sharing how 'disgusted' they feel about it.

"Everyone talking about the bathtub scene in Saltburn when the real enemy is that period blood scene," one user wrote, with another adding: "The grave & period scenes in Saltburn will forever haunt me."

On the flip side, though, there's people who have hilariously urged the viewers who were scandalised by the scene to "grow up".

Another wrote: "I liked that in Saltburn one of the crazy demented things Barry’s character did to show us he’s a sick and twisted individual was PERIOD SEX like 1st of all crazy ex girlfriend already addressed this years ago."

"Saltburn period sex scene really separating the men from the boys," a third person wrote.

Discussing the scene with TIME, director Emerald Fennell explained that it was an "effective" scene because it was Oliver's manipulative way of seducing Venetia: "Telling Venetia that her body, rather than something disgusting, is in fact beautiful and arousing."

"Menstrual blood still is something that people are squeamish about," she continued. "But I think actually, it's an incredibly effective sex scene because he’s worshiping her body, and everything that her body produces, and that's not something that anyone has ever done for her before."

Is it really worse than the bathtub scene?

Read more about Saltburn here:

• Saltburn's shocking bathtub scene is causing people to walk out the cinema
• Saltburn star Barry Keoghan says he can't look at graves after filming the wild grave scene

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