What Barry Keoghan was actually drinking in that Saltburn bathwater scene

Prepare yourself

Saltburn bath water scene
(Image credit: © Amazon Content Services LLC)

It seems that Saltburn fever is showing no signs of slowing down. The film became an instant hit over the festive period after its release on Amazon Prime Video, with families gathered on the sofa expecting a soft drama but quickly squirming while gripping the tin of Quality Street. 

And there have been a few key Saltburn scenes that have garnered the most attention. Viewers have unpicked the meaning behind the awkward egg scene, Barry Keoghan's naked dancing to Murder on the Dancefloor became a (clothed) TikTok trend and put Sophie Ellis Bextor at the top of the charts, and it turns out that the shocking grave scene was actually improvised

But if there is a single moment that everyone has come back to time and time again, it's the one involving Jacob Elordi's bath water. In fact, it even got made into a candle and Margot Robbie sniffed it on the red carpet. Whether it's Barry's commitment to slurping sounds, the proximity of the camera to his face as he drinks it, or the cloudy liquid itself, it has become the most talked about 30 seconds of the entire film. 

Naturally, it left viewers with a lot of questions - but it seems there is one in particular that has played on the minds of movie watchers: what on earth was Barry actually drinking? 

Well, Production Designer Suzie Davies is here to clear it up. In an interview with Business Insider she shared that the team concocted something unique to act as Felix Catton's semen-infused bathwater. When asked what was swirling in the bath, she said: "Yoghurt and a bit of milk and some water."

And it seems that Barry really was dedicated to getting everything from the sounds to the movements rights. She added: "He did it four times and really went for it. Every one he did was a different kind of slurp. Often, when you film things like that, there are 20 people in the room. It’s quite tense. But the cast can bring something that’s so extraordinary that you can hear a pin drop. So when Barry was doing his stuff, it was amazing. He had no inhibitions."

Well, now you know.

Jadie Troy-Pryde
News Editor

Jadie Troy-Pryde is News Editor, covering celebrity and entertainment, royal, lifestyle and viral news. Before joining the team in 2018 as the Lifestyle and Social Media Editor, she worked at a number of women’s fashion and lifestyle titles including Grazia, Women’s Health and Stylist, and now heads the Marie Claire UK news desk.