Sophie Ellis-Bextor's Murder On The Dancefloor Is Back In The Charts, Thanks To Saltburn
Say what you will about "Saltburn" — the film that /Film's own Jacob Hall touted as the "feel bad" comedy of 2023 – Emerald Fennell's follow-up to "Promising Young Woman" has inspired a bit of pearl-clutching and eye-rolling in equal measure. Its "twist" ending, admittedly, isn't all that surprising (depending on who you ask, it's a tad contrived) but the film's final moments more than make up for any alleged predictability.
"Saltburn" derives its name from the ancestral home of a well-to-do English family, and the bulk of its action takes place on the lush property in the summer of 2007. When golden boy Felix (Jacob Elordi) brings his lower-class friend Oliver (Barry Keoghan) home for the holiday, a sultry, psychosexual class war ensues. Its descent into madness is chalk full of depraved yearning, posh dinner parties, and laugh-out-loud line readings (thanks to performances from Rosamund Pike and Carey Mulligan, among others). "Saltburn" is a film best experienced cold, but among its most talked-about scenes is its final closing moment.
When the dust finally settles, Oliver finds himself alone at Saltburn, dancing to forgotten pop banger "Murder on the Dancefloor." The fact that he's traipsing nude through the rooms of a modern-day castle is just one of Fennell's most hilariously messed-up choices — and whether you were 100% on board with the events that precede it, it's hard to deny just how fun that ending is.
Fennell made an inspired choice in turning the clock back to the '00s, the definitive era of sleaze (and in some cases, cringe) that we're all not-so-secretly nostalgic for. "Saltburn" is not without its on-the-nose needle drops, but "Murder on the Dancefloor" might just be one of its best. It's prompted a well-deserved reappraisal of Sophie Ellis-Bextor's 2002 single, which has experienced a major comeback in the music charts.
You'd better not kill the groove
"Murder On the Dancefloor" was a certified hit in its day. Ellis-Bextor secured top 10 chart placements across Europe and Australia, and traveled the world to perform the single in concert. Even now, the English singer-songwriter remains fond of the song — but she admits that its resurgence came as a huge surprise. "I have a really good relationship with 'Murder on the Dancefloor,'" she told Magic FM, "So having it have this moment again feels really special. I don't think anything could have prepared me for this, really. It's quite magical and unexpected."
When the "Saltburn" team first approached Ellis-Bextor for her blessing, she was given a "synopsis" of how it would be used. "I knew that a character from the film would be dancing to it with no clothes on for the entirety of [the song]," she continued. "And I actually just thought, 'I think I have to see that.'"
With the release of "Saltburn," "Murder on the Dancefloor" has become a viral phenomenon. It inspired its own dance trend on TikTok, and even broken through the charts in a way that it didn't when it was originally released, debuting for the first time in the United States on Billboard's Hot 100 list (at No. 98). It's also back in a big way in UK charts, reclaiming the No. 2 spot it once held in 2001, and has climbed to No. 25 on Australia's ARIA singles chart.
The resurgence of "Murder" comes at a moment where disco is enjoying a major reappraisal. The same goes for the early 2000s: the noughties have become an era that everyone is willing to celebrate, whether they lived through the decade or not. "Saltburn" could be setting the tone for a new wave of nostalgia: the film may not be for everyone, but at least it's got great taste in music.
"Saltburn" is currently streaming on Prime Video.