Wuthering Heights (2026)

Film Details

Director: Emerald Fennell

Run Time: 2hr 16m

Cast: Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi, Ewan Mitchell, Alison Oliver, Owen Cooper, Hong Chau

Synopsis

Heathcliff is taken in by the Earnshaw’s, a wealthy family in 18th century England. But tragedy strikes as he soon finds himself falling in love with Catherine Earnshaw.

My Review

I want to start by making it clear I haven’t read the novel, so although I can relate to the frustration fans have in regard to changing source material, I went into the film with no predisposition of any kind. That undoubtedly allowed me to enjoy Wuthering Heights at face value, appreciating the illustrious costume and set designs, along with the outlandish colour palette which seemed rather symbolic of the apparent creative liberties Emerald Fennell has taken with the material. Yes, this often cliche romance fell into some pretty cheesy tropes but I did find the back and forth between Heathcliff and Catherine to be both captivating and entertaining and despite my better judgement, I found myself caught up in the emotional end to their love story.

The inherited trauma passed down from parent to children is evident throughout the story, bearing fruit come the end of the film as the pair descend into toxic, selfish and down right abusive versions of themselves. However, I do believe we should have spent more time on Heathcliff’s abusive nature, which was passed by pretty quickly, meaning the whole ordeal was far less impactful as it could have been. As I understand it, Isabella has a far darker story in the book, a victim of grim abuse and assault at the hands of Heathcliff, far away from the almost jovial, fetishised take we see here. Making such a change to a character and her arc, I find to be quite dangerous, despite Alison Oliver performing absolutely brilliantly, horrific abuse should never be reduced to a sexual fetish. 

In contrast, I actually expected their to be a lot more heat between Catherine and Heathcliff, expecting Fennell to portray a steamy romance that shocked audiences, that wasn’t really the case and it was actually pretty tame! Which would usually be okay if they hadn’t portrayed the servants sexual antics as far more erotic than the leading pair, it almost dulled their romance as a result. But despite some writing flaws, I still enjoyed it and I really appreciated the cinematography by Linus Sandgren, who knocked it out of the park here!

My Rating: 6.8 out of 10

Thanks for reading!

Film Review Club