Emerald Fennell was inspired by Psycho as she made Saltburn

Emerald Fennell took inspiration from 'Psycho' when making 'Saltburn'.

The 38-year-old director has helmed the psychological thriller and suggested that both the tone and casting of Barry Keoghan in the lead role were influenced by Sir Alfred Hitchcock's classic film.

Asked if she had 'Psycho' in mind while crafting her movie, Emerald told SlashFilm: "Always. ('Psycho' star Anthony Perkins) was also a heartthrob. That's who Alfred Hitchcock cast, a heartthrob, teen heartthrob, for that part.

"People forget that because ('Psycho' is) what he's so famous for, and it kind of, in many ways, made his career very difficult after that because nobody could ever see him as anything but sinister. But before that, he was a beautiful boy that everyone fancied.

"That kind of decision is so crucial for that empathy and that connection and that using of an audience's prior relationship with the genre, with an actor, is something I always love to do."

Emerald has form for making provocative movies after directing 'Promising Young Woman' and explained that she sets out to get audiences to "emotionally connect" to her work.

'The Crown' actress said: "It's a really difficult one because it's hard to talk about it without sounding facetious. But it's very easy to be provocative.

"I mean, you could show all sorts of stuff and get a reaction from people. The thing that I'm interested in is making people emotionally connect with something that's difficult. And it's the same thing about this movie."

Emerald continued: "I'm not setting out to be provocative because I think that would be quite boring. But I'm setting out to be honest and unsparing, and I'm not frightened of people not liking it.

"I mind if people don't appreciate the craft or they think I haven't done my homework, or they think I've made decisions that aren't deliberate. That gets my goat, because that's a different argument. But if you don't like it, I don't mind."