Wuthering Heights, 2026.
Written and Directed by Emerald Fennell.
Starring Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi, Hong Chau, Alison Oliver, Shazad Latif, Owen Cooper, Vy Nguyen, Charlotte Mellington, Ewan Mitchell, Martin Clunes, Robert Cawsey, Amy Morgan, Jessica Knappett, Millie Kent, Vicki Pepperdine, and Paul Rhys.
SYNOPSIS:
A passionate and tumultuous love story set against the backdrop of the Yorkshire moors, exploring the intense and destructive relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw.
The production design in writer/director Emerald Fennell’s take on “Wuthering Heights” (the quotation marks simply meaning that this is her reimagining of the timeless Emily Brontë novel, nothing more and nothing less) is so lavish and imaginative that, at one point, an entire room has its walls painted not only colored to the exact skin complexion of Margot Robbie’s Cathy, but down to minuscule facial features such as a freckle on her cheek.
For those who have never seen a film from Emerald Fennell (having exploded onto the filmmaking scene with daring, shocking works such as Promising Young Woman and Saltburn), this is mentioned to demonstrate her lack of subtlety, which is either her greatest strength or crippling weakness, depending on the viewer. During a montage, there is a glimpse of Cathy realizing that she has made a mistake in a personal choice that has left her feeling utterly trapped within wealth and equally stunning costume designs and jewelry; she is spotted clawing at that face wall. It’s a nifty visual characterization touch without nuance.
Yet despite directing the ever-loving hell out of “Wuthering Heights”, Emerald Fennell feels only halfway in the door when it comes to spinning this tale (or rather the portion she has chosen to adapt) into her distinct take. There are anachronistic qualities to be had, ranging from an entire soundtrack of original songs from dance-pop musician Charli XCX to a kink-minded take on the psychosexual material, stuck within a rather dry, abridged, and tweaked telling of this doomed romance of miscommunications, jealousy, and obsession.
For anyone familiar with the source material and thought certain story beats would be perfect for the filmmaker’s shock jockey approach to direction and storytelling (remember, her last movie saw Barry Keoghan strip nude and fuck a grave over uncontrollable obsession), this film teases some of that in its opening and final 30 minutes, only to never erupt. The rest is, well, as mentioned, a condensed and slightly altered version of Wuthering Heights.
Emerald Fennell’s direction and the craft on display here are impeccably striking and beautiful, but it’s all in service to something emotionally flat and possibly afraid to live and die on the edge of bold. Given some of the intense backlash before moviegoers saw a frame of the film for fear of what she would do with the story, it’s disappointing that the answer is the cliffnotes, but with a third act emphasizing and diving into degradation as a kink and what is a truly degrading approach to romance during such classist times.
The real issue is that the film struggles to come to life until that point, often relying on elemental machines for atmosphere, winking references to the slight spins she puts on the story and characters, and romance that garners too much of the focus considering how astonishingly dark the second half of the book becomes (alos the part that you think this particular filmmaker would be game and gutsy enough to tackle all the way through, but not here).
Matters are not helped by Margot Robbie’s co-star, Jacob Elordi, as Heathcliff, the commoner-turned-rich, who exudes almost no personality and whispers most of his dialogue unconvincingly. This is made frustrating since Jacob Elordi is exceptional when it comes to expressing emotion through physicality (as Frankenstein made clear), here with much of that showing in instances such as how he chooses to chop wood, crawl like a loyal dog that will never leave Cathy, or lick a teardrop off her face. The heat is there in the intimacy to an extent (especially during the previously mentioned final 30 minutes, when this endeavor really starts to blow up into the filmmaker’s style), but the romance itself lacks spark, relying on the extravagant budget to prop up the characters and everything surrounding them.
Merely throwing millions of dollars into a budget doesn’t make a film good or cover up its storytelling blemishes. As for that story, it involves Cathy (played by Charlotte Mellington at a young age in the lengthy, well-done set-up) taking an interest in an abused boy (Owen Cooper) her cruel father (Martin Clunes, chewing the scenery) adopts to lie to himself that he is a concerned caring citizen when it’s more an excuse to have someone in the household to physically beat up on when his temper flares up. It’s a temper that is typically directed at Cathy and housekeeper Nelly (played by Vy Nguyen as a child and Hong Chao later on, the latter form receiving a welcome, more expanded role), until Heathcliff (one fascinating touch is that Cathy gives him the name in this version, although I won’t spoil why) begins making sure he is the only one in harm’s way when the man flies into a rage.
Cathy, who somewhat enjoys the company of Heathcliff as a pet project, attempting to teach him how to read and write, among other activities, starts to fall for him even if he doesn’t quite realize it until later in life (the moment in question where this feeling of desire and ecstasy washes over her is cleverly staged and conveyed). She also hopes to marry a rich man one day, and grows optimistic as a somewhat more self-absorbed adult when the Wuthering Heights family receives neighbors.
They happen to be Edgar (Shazad Latif), a wealthy and suitable match for marriage, and Isabela (Alison Oliver), with whom he has a sibling-like relationship. The latter of which marks another example of Emerald Fennell halfway there to doing something memorably different, as this Isabela is a somewhat nerdy reader obsessed with doomed romance novels. She mostly comes across as a genius creation for self-insertion among super fans of the novel or anyone harboring sexual fantasies or Jacob Elordi. When it’s time for the film to take a turn in the psychological games in that third act, this makes her character’s twist fun until it becomes clear that Emerald Fennell doesn’t actually know what to do with it (if memory serves, the character doesn’t even have a final scene serving closure to her arc, although there are certainly some unforgettable ones during that stretch).
What follows is as doomed as anything William Shakespeare wrote, but with obsession, depravity, manipulation, and degradation (and songs from Charli XCX that turn the proceedings into a music video and never add much beyond a distraction since the film, as a whole, isn’t primarily committed to anachronisms) that still never lives up to the extremities of the novel or how disturbingly far Emerald Fennell has made it clear she is capable of. There is also reason to argue that much of what is excluded here across the entire narrative suggests a misreading of the source material and its themes.
The budget on-screen is what breathes life into “Wuthering Heights”, which whithers away until perking up with a gonzo, kinky, psychologically warped finale, even if it is one that softens the characters and doesn’t have the boldness to go anywhere near how nasty these characters become in the book. By the end, those quotations come to reflect indecision about what Emerald Fennell wanted to do with her adaptation.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder
