We Need Someone Who Looks At Us the Way Barry Keoghan Looks at Jacob Elordi

Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn has yet to grace wide-release cinema screens, but it’s already won over the Internet. It’s something that would have occurred naturally, with Margot Robbie acting as a the project’s producer and heartthrobs Jacob Elordi and Barry Keoghan as the film’s leads. But last night, Elordi and Keoghan set much of the Internet into flames at the Los Angeles premiere of the thriller.

The actors appeared on the step and repeat together, Elordi in a three piece Burberry suit and Keoghan wearing a leather vest and dress shoes. Though they both looked rather dapper, and fans were quick to point out their staggering height difference, it was their behavior on the red carpet that really took things over the edge.

At one point in between posing for photos, Keoghan was caught staring intensely at Elordi. When the Australian actor noticed, he leaned in for a kiss to which Keoghan followed suit before they both pulled away and shared a laugh. “Find you a man that looks at you the way Barry Keoghan looks at Jacob Elordi” someone wrote. “The height difference is so important to me” another quipped. And one user simply said, “Oh!” in response to the kiss that almost was.

Earlier in the day, Keoghan reposted Elordi’s GQ cover shoot with “Oh baby” and three emojis. Understandable! And in the spring, photos of the actors preparing for their roles in the gym also warranted a similar level of thirst from the Internet. Antics aside, it’s nice to see stars engaging in promotional antics after the months-long SAG-AFTRA strike brought nearly all premieres to a halt.

Saltburn tells the tale of student Oliver Quick (Keoghan) who is drawn into the aristocratic world of Felix Catton (Elordi). While not much is known about the exact premise of the plot (including if there is in fact a love story between Catton and Quick), Fennel revealed that the film is centered around a feeling of “overwhelming carnal desire.”

“I think there are some characters in this that are almost so hyper-hetero that they feel comfortable toeing the line, and then there are characters who are absolutely fluid in every conceivable way,” the director continued. “This is a film entirely about desire, and that desire takes every conceivable manifestation, and it’s so important.