Jacob Elordi Dismissed Reactions To Saltburn's Infamous Bathtub Scene As 'Prudish'

Audiences everywhere may have been grossed out by the infamous bathtub scene in "Saltburn," but Jacob Elordi thinks they're all being too prudish. In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, the actor compared the film to other media, which he claims is "far more extreme" — and he's right.

Barry Keoghan gave an outstanding performance in 2023's bleakest comedy "Saltburn," convincingly portraying a nervous fish-out-of-water working-class student among privileged Oxford elites before transforming into a deranged, obsessive killer. The film did suffer from that increasingly prevalent trend of essentially mashing two movies together and leaving audiences wondering how the first one ends. But otherwise, it was well-received and prompted a lot of buzz. It wasn't just the fact that its young star was excellent in the lead role of Oliver Quick, the film was downright salacious in parts, searing indelible images into the audience's collective cortex that will likely forever remain.

There was, of course, the part where Oliver enjoys ... er, congress with a grave site (a riveting scene that was improvised) or the moment where he "engages with" Alison Oliver's Venetia Catton at an inopportune moment in her natural cycle. But neither of these unhinged moments left quite the mark that the infamous bathtub scene etched into our memories. For those unaware, "Saltburn" sees Oliver simultaneously form a deep hatred for, and become obsessed with, Elordi's Felix Catton. As you might imagine, such a potent cocktail of emotions leads to some unusual behavior, such as when he secretly watches Felix pleasure himself in a bathtub only to sneak in and lap up the dregs of the bathwater as it disappears into the drain. All of which is just lovely, according to Elordi.

Director Emerald Fennell told People that the bathtub scene in "Saltburn" — which evidently elicited squeals behind the scenes — was "the sexiest thing [she'd] ever seen in [her] life." But she was in the minority, as reactions ranged from mortification to outright disgust. For Jacob Elordi, however, it was but a drop in the ocean of shock and outrage. 

The actor has addressed the bathtub debacle before, telling Stream Wars he was "really excited" when reading the scene for the first time, because you don't really see things like that in mainstream movies a lot of the time." For him, pushing boundaries was the name of the game, and he certainly managed to do that — at least according to audiences. For the actor himself, glugging down soiled bathwater isn't all that shocking. 

In 2025, Elordi once again addressed the scene in his Entertainment Weekly interview, where he said the reaction showed him "just how, I guess, prudish we are." He continued by bringing up other movies with far more outrageous content: 

"When I watch [the bathtub scene], I just think there's far more extreme things in cinema that I've seen, far more graphic [...] There's more alarming things in the top 10 streamed remakes of crime documentaries on every streaming platform. I think that's much more alarming, the kind of horrible joy that we all get from watching children be mutilated. That's what was interesting to me."

Elordi, who would make a great replacement for Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman in "American Psycho," went on to characterize the scene as "a piece of fiction with something just a little taboo, and that makes people's skin crawl," saying that there's an "interesting parallel" between that and some of the more upsetting media available today.

Whatever you think of Jacob Elordi's assessment, his comments raise some important points that are a heck of a lot more interesting than getting all worked up about actors pretending to do gross stuff. Specifically, his reference to true crime and the dramatization of real-life tragedy.

In 2025 must-watch doc "Predators" asked uncomfortable questions about the true crime sensation, which will hopefully mark the beginning of some sort of reckoning. True crime documentaries are as popular as they've ever been, but the genre has long since reached a point where the line between entertainment and journalism has been blurred. Netflix's "The Perfect Neighbor" was lauded as a gripping and powerful documentary when it debuted this year — and in many ways it was. But the experience of watching a young boy become bereaved in real-time via bodycam footage was, for me, a step too far. 

Many others don't feel the same, but for me, this felt like a turning point for the genre, which typically censors the most upsetting images. In this example, however, this absolutely crushing moment plays out unimpeded. I had to turn it off — not only because it made me uncomfortable, but because I honestly don't know whether that traumatized boy on the screen was being served by me watching from my couch as a way of passing a Thursday evening.

There's also the other aspect of Elordi's comments, which referenced "remakes of crime documentaries." That immediately brings to mind Ryan Murphy and his ongoing exploitation of real-life tragedy in his "Monster" series, which director Oz Perkins already took down in spectacular style. Imagine if the conversation was focused more on this sort of stuff rather than Barry Keoghan pretending to lap up the remnants of Jacob Elordi's bath...