Emerald Fennell’s romantic take on Wuthering Heights is a captivating, if flawed, adaptation

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Emerald Fennell’s film adaptation of Wuthering Heights, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, is a stunning visual and auditory experience. While the 136-minute movie occasionally feels frustrating, it powerfully evokes the emotions at the core of Emily Brontë’s novel, even if it doesn’t strictly follow the book’s plot.

Their relationship is defined by pain – they’re truly star-crossed lovers, suffering due to their situation, their own flaws, and how they treat each other. Martin Clunes delivers a standout performance as Cathy’s father, switching between being harsh and childish. It’s clear where Cathy gets her emotional nature and tendency for theatrics, and she skillfully uses her tears to get what she wants.

If you’re a millennial woman who used to have a Tumblr and a brightly coloured iPod mini, this will probably remind you of being a teenager. It captures that intense feeling of longing that’s so common in teenage dreams.

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Wuthering Heights takes that complex mix of desire, yearning, and sadness – essentially, love – and transforms it into a visually stunning and detailed film lasting over two hours. Despite its beauty, the movie isn’t perfect.

Watching Wuthering Heights can feel long, and the story sometimes slows down in a way that doesn’t quite enhance the central love story between Heathcliff and Cathy. It comes close to overdoing the romance—making you feel like it’s belaboring the point—but it skillfully avoids that, instead pulling you back into the story’s sadness just in time.

Robbie initially does a good job portraying Cathy’s naive side, largely because of the subtle hint of something darker beneath the surface – a shared coldness with Heathcliff. It feels like both characters understand their destructive path, but are unable or unwilling to change it, perhaps even finding a strange satisfaction in their suffering.

Fennell has explained that she created the film inspired by her feelings while reading Wuthering Heights at age fourteen. This influence is clear throughout the movie, which presents a very romanticized version of the story. The original novel’s harsher and more disturbing aspects, particularly the flawed nature of its characters, have been significantly softened.

The way Heathcliff treats Isabella is presented in a way that makes it hard to know what Isabella actually thinks or feels. This feels like a missed opportunity on the author’s part; instead of exploring the impact of Heathcliff and his lover’s intense relationship on those around them, the story focuses solely on their romance, even as others suffer because of it.

The story focuses so intensely on Heathcliff and Cathy’s passionate, yet destructive relationship that the suffering of other characters seems unimportant. We, as the audience, are drawn into believing this is acceptable. While the author might be hinting that we should question what’s happening to those on the sidelines, that message gets overshadowed by the intensity of the central romance.

Hong Chau delivers a powerful performance as Nelly, portraying a quiet strength that makes you want to see more of her character’s inner life – her envy, doubts, and hidden wishes. However, like the other supporting characters, Isabella and Edgar, she mainly exists to move the central love story of Cathy and Heathcliff forward.

Fennell’s version of Wuthering Heights focuses intensely on the passionate relationship between Heathcliff and Cathy, sometimes to the exclusion of the novel’s broader concerns with social class and race. While casting Shazad Latif as Edgar Linton might have been seen as a bold move, considering the criticism Jacob Elordi received for being cast as Heathcliff – a character described as having dark skin in the book – the show doesn’t address this choice directly, which is notable given current conversations about representation.

The film’s somewhat unrealistic portrayal of colorblindness in its characters might be understandable, given that it doesn’t clearly take place in a specific time period. The strange, dreamlike quality of the movie is already hinted at through its costumes and overall design. Ultimately, it’s up to each viewer to decide if they’re willing to overlook this aspect.

The costumes, designed by Jacqueline Duran, and the set design by Suzie Davies, focus on creating a feeling rather than accurately recreating a specific time period. This is a smart move, as it keeps audiences guessing even though they might already be familiar with the story. Some design choices are genuinely unsettling—Cathy’s bedroom built from flesh is a prime example—but even subtler details, like a fireplace constructed from hands, suggest a struggle to escape from something terrible.

Fennell was given a lot of creative freedom with her adaptation of Wuthering Heights, and occasionally the film feels overly self-indulgent while trying to appear smart. Despite being frustrating at times, it’s hard to look away. Ultimately, Fennell succeeded in creating a film that captures the intense, naive, and distorted way teenagers often view passionate love.

It’s actually a good thing many of us are watching this as adults, not as teenagers. We have the life experience to recognize how unhealthy the relationship is. It’s sad to think young viewers might see the pain and manipulation in this movie and believe that’s what real love looks like.

To them, we can only recommend picking up a copy of Wuthering Heights as the perfect antidote.

Wuthering Heights is released in cinemas on 13 February.

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2026-02-09 23:20