Emerald Fennell’s new film adaptation of “Wuthering Heights” is clearly the work of a dedicated fan. The director aimed to recreate the intense emotional experience she had reading Emily Brontë’s classic novel at age 14, calling it a uniquely powerful connection. This visually stunning and dramatic version, released Friday, stays true to the core of the story while also exploring the unspoken desires and intimate moments between the characters, imagining what happens beyond what Brontë explicitly wrote.
Fennell is a huge fan of the book, explaining that she, like many others, is captivated by Emily Brontë and her writing. She says Brontë’s work truly resonates with you. She shared this while on a Zoom call with Margot Robbie, who starred as Catherine Earnshaw and also produced the film, and Jacob Elordi, who played Heathcliff.
The director, who is 40, remembers attending the Brontë Festival of Women’s Writing in West Yorkshire, England, in 2025 and feeling instantly comfortable and connected to the other attendees. She describes feeling like she’d found her people, saying, “I was like, ‘These are my chicks.’ We all want to sleep in a coffin.” Robbie chuckled, even though he’s probably heard the story before.
Fennell describes feeling intensely pressured while making the film, comparing it to being trapped. She admits she doesn’t believe a perfect adaptation was possible, acknowledging her own creative boundaries and how much she cares about the project.
Her goal was to create a film that captured the intense emotional experience of reading the novel as a teenager. She acknowledges this would involve adding elements of wish fulfillment. The original novel is known for being restrained, with only subtle hints of physical connection. For her, the power of Gothic stories lies in their emotional depth and how they mirror our inner lives, and she sees this film as a personal homage to the book.
Margot Robbie’s production company, LuckyChap Entertainment, is teaming up with director Emerald Fennell for a third time with the upcoming film, “Wuthering Heights.” Robbie previously produced Fennell’s acclaimed debut, “Promising Young Woman” (2020), which won Fennell an Oscar, and her 2023 thriller, “Saltburn.” Fennell is known for her bold and uncompromising filmmaking style, which often sparks strong and divided opinions among both critics and audiences – she doesn’t shy away from taking risks.
Despite their history, however, Robbie had never acted in one of Fennell’s films.
Robbie explained that while reading the script, he naturally started to imagine himself as the character Cathy, trying out her lines to see how he’d perform them. He often does this when he’s reviewing a script, but he felt discouraged about his chances of being cast. Despite this, he decided to audition anyway.
It’s similar to asking a friend out on a date, explains Fennell. You risk changing a good thing, and you don’t want to ruin what’s already working. However, she really needed Margot Robbie to play Cathy, and she was incredibly happy that Margot expressed interest first.
Fennell did make the first move with Elordi, 28, recently Oscar-nominated for his monster in Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein.”
Elordi remembers getting a text from Emerald Fennell that simply asked, ‘Do you want to be Heathcliff?’ He immediately said yes. When she sent him the script, he was so moved he cried—exactly the kind of filmmaking experience he’d always hoped for.
Elordi physically resembled the image of Heathcliff on the book cover, and Fennell had already seen during filming of “Saltburn” that he had the talent to play the part.
According to Fennell, Jacob Elordi’s character in ‘Saltburn’ is intentionally unlikeable, doing something terrible in every scene. However, Elordi was uniquely able to charm audiences despite this. Fennell compares the character to an extreme antihero, like Heathcliff, who is cruel, violent, and driven by revenge. She believes Elordi brought a sensitivity and genuine quality to the role that allows viewers to overlook the character’s awful behavior.
Fennell understood the success of the film depended on finding the right actors to play Cathy and Heathcliff – characters famous from literature and previously played by many stars, like Laurence Olivier, Juliette Binoche, and Ralph Fiennes. Whether the original novel is truly a love story between the proud Cathy and the brooding Heathcliff is a long-standing debate. Some see it as a story of unhealthy obsession, others as a tale of revenge or simply a tragedy. However, Fennell’s adaptation clearly presents a romantic story for the big screen.
As a real cinema lover, I always appreciate those pairings that just explode on screen – think Burton and Taylor, with all their talent and, let’s be honest, drama! That’s what we were hoping to find, actors with that incredible, almost overwhelming charisma and skill. And honestly, when I saw these two together, I knew we’d found it – that same explosively brilliant combination.
“That’s such a great thing to hear,” Elordi said, playfully covering his face. He added with a smile, “Especially after not hearing anything positive for so long.” According to Fennell, she doesn’t offer praise very often.
The new film, “Wuthering Heights,” brings back several people who have worked with director Emerald Fennell before. Alison Oliver, known for her role in “Saltburn,” plays Isabella Linton, a young woman who captures Heathcliff’s unwanted attention. Fennell also worked again with her regular cinematographer Linus Sandgren, production designer Suzie Davies, and editor Victoria Boydell. The cast also includes Hong Chau as Nelly Dean, a friend to the main character Cathy, and Shazad Latif as the wealthy Edgar Linton. Fennell and Robbie prioritized creating a comfortable and supportive environment on set.
Making a bold film like this can be quite vulnerable for the actors,” Fennell explains. “It’s important they feel comfortable enough to take risks, make mistakes, and experiment with their performances.
Fennell’s direction was often unexpected.
Elordi recalls the director preparing them for a scene around a long table, emphasizing the need for energy and realism. She challenged their initial understanding of the character Heathcliff, asking what if he wasn’t the typically brooding type. Elordi says this unexpected question immediately created a spark and excitement at the table, which as an actor, he finds incredibly effective and inspiring – it always leads to better work when he’s pushed outside of what’s comfortable.
Books
With the release of Emerald Fennell’s new movie inspiring huge demand for Emily Brontë’s novel, six authors explore why “Wuthering Heights” remains a powerful, challenging, and unconventional story.
Robbie enjoys the creative freedom Emerald gives him. He prefers to start with bold ideas and then refine them based on feedback, but Emerald often encourages him to go all-out. He explains that she appreciates his most extravagant concepts, once describing his work as perfectly suited for a grand period piece and then playfully challenging him to channel the villainous energy of Ursula from The Little Mermaid.
That particular scene ended up being used in the final version of the film. Emerald Fennell explains, “A lot of times I only need a small part of a take, but this was a key moment. I think it really captures how chaotic life can be for all of us.”
“And Cathy so is Ursula the sea witch,” Robbie says.
“She’s such a little sea witch,” Fennell agrees.
Fennell’s new take on “Wuthering Heights” intensifies the story’s already strong feelings. She streamlines the plot by removing the sections that focus on the next generation of characters. Instead of Cathy being tormented by her brother, the abuse now comes from her father, portrayed by Martin Clunes.
The new adaptation intensifies the passionate connection between Cathy and Heathcliff, showing explicit sexual encounters that aren’t present in the original novel. Despite Heathcliff’s humble background and Cathy’s choice to marry the rich Linton, their desire for each other escalates into several intimate scenes – including embraces on the Yorkshire Moors, in a carriage, and even in Cathy’s bedroom at Thrushcross Grange.
Fennell firmly believes these stories live within all of us, saying, ‘They’re part of the book of my head, but I think they’re part of the book of all of our heads.’ While deeply appreciating the original work, she felt compelled to create her own interpretation – the version she personally needed to explore.
You know, as a movie fan, I totally get what Robbie means when he says it’s all about wish fulfillment. Where else are you going to really live out your dreams if not in the movies? It’s where you can escape and experience things you just can’t in real life.
Fennell’s film uses very physical, detailed imagery to build the sexual tension between Cathy and Heathcliff. We see things like close-ups of hands making dough, a snail crawling on glass, and Cathy poking at a jelly fish. The director actually tried out many different jellyfish before choosing the one that appears in the movie.
Fennell explains her strong working relationship with the team comes from a shared obsession with detail. She says she meticulously examines every aspect of the production, recalling how she spent a lot of time choosing the right fish for a specific scene with Margot Robbie, going through around fifty different options – including various sizes, real and fake fish, and even different textures of jelly to simulate the look and feel.
“You think she’s joking but she’s not,” Robbie says.
“My finger smelled so bad the whole time that we were making this movie,” Fennell adds.
In the end, they found the perfect fish for the scene. Robbie explains that they filmed with a few different fish, but everyone instantly knew which one was right. It was a shared feeling – a collective recognition that they had captured exactly what they needed, mirroring the sense of dissatisfaction in Cathy’s marriage. As Robbie puts it, “Everyone went, ‘That’s it.'”
The film has a striking and vibrant visual style, notably using bright red colors for floors and walls to echo the main character Cathy’s appearance. It blends the feel of a classic Disney fairytale with the look of romantic book covers from the 1980s and the elegance of old Hollywood. A constant mist adds to the atmosphere. The setting of Wuthering Heights is deliberately dark and imposing, with rocks appearing to break through the structure, while Thrushcross Grange is presented as a beautiful, contained Victorian home. As the director, Fennell, explains, this contrast represents the power of nature – sometimes intruding and sometimes being held at bay – and what that means for the characters and their emotional journeys.
The costumes in this production aren’t historically accurate; in fact, they were intentionally designed to be extravagant and reflect the characters’ feelings, rather than the time period. Costume designer Jacqueline Durran prioritized emotional impact over historical correctness.
Robbie explained that each outfit was so stunning, he couldn’t help but exclaim in excitement. Then, Emerald would bring out trays of jewelry and adorn him like a Christmas tree.
Fennell explains there was a lot of yelling happening constantly. She believes it’s important to give people the freedom to be bold and even a little shocking, to push boundaries and see how far they can go before it feels wrong. She thinks it’s courageous to explore those limits and find that ‘too far’ point.
Even Jacob Elordi got caught up in the fun. He says he was enthusiastically admiring all the dresses, and because Margot Robbie and Alison Oliver’s dressing rooms were next to his, he kept getting in the way in the hallway.
Movies
Emerald Fennell, who won an Oscar for her screenplay of ‘Promising Young Woman,’ is directing a new film called ‘Saltburn.’ Margot Robbie is a producer on the project, and Carey Mulligan is among the cast.
I was really struck by how, even though the film has this incredibly dramatic and visually stunning style, the love story at its heart felt surprisingly real. You genuinely feel the intense connection – and desperation – between Cathy and Heathcliff, even when they’re behaving terribly. I found myself rooting for them despite everything! The ending isn’t quite the same as the book, but it still carries that same sense of sadness and that feeling like it was always going to end that way.
Fennell inherently understood what makes these characters so desirable.
She explains that she followed her instincts throughout the process. Everyone on set was aiming for moments that felt truly powerful – something that would give you goosebumps. She remembers filming a scene early on where Heathcliff dramatically breaks a chair to make a fire for Cathy.
Seeing Cathy shivering, Heathcliff dramatically throws his wooden chair to the floor and into the fire. This passionate act, meant as a gesture of care, unexpectedly stirs something within Cathy.
I scanned the room and noticed everyone – all the experienced professionals, both women and men – were completely stunned. They all shared Cathy’s reaction, and that’s exactly the connection I’d been hoping to see each day.
“He actually broke the chair,” Robbie says. “Cathy’s reaction is my genuine reaction.”
Elordi knew it would be difficult to play such a well-known character, one who’s been beloved in books and movies for years. He also felt pressure not to disappoint the creator, Fennell.
Jacob Elordi was aware that the story meant a lot to Emerald Fennell and that her screenplay was excellent, but he questioned whether he was the right person for the role. Despite his initial nerves, he decided to take the chance. He describes Fennell as a director you can fully trust and whose vision is incredibly unique. After watching ‘Saltburn’ with her for the first time, he understood he was witnessing something truly special and original, and he feels fortunate to have collaborated with her on two projects.
Robbie says his biggest hope for any film he makes is that it will become someone’s all-time favorite. He wants to create a movie that deeply resonates with at least one person, offering them the same kind of comfort and impact that movies have had for him.
Fennell’s adaptation of “Wuthering Heights” is powerfully emotional. Regardless of how viewers react, she achieved her artistic vision.
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2026-02-11 14:32