So, Wuthering Heights, that 1847 Emily Bronte novel, a school exam study text favourite but perhaps made more famous by Kate Bush’s classic 1978 hit gets another big screen incarnation care of writer director Emerald Fennell. She makes her intentions clear by having the title in inverted commas and by her own admission the she wanted to rework it into her impression of the book when she first read it aged 14 years old. That the film starts with a hanging that evolves into a crowd degenerating into a sexual frenzy sets out just what to expect.
We meet Cathy first as a child played by Charlotte Mellingtion whose father is rowdy often drink sozzled and disciplinarian and as played by Martin Clunes in rip roaring fashion steals the film whenever he is on. And its him who one drink drenched night at the local hostelry adopts a boy to be step brother to Cathy who she names Heathcliff. Friends at first there’s an underlying attraction to each other which surfaces when they are adults yet she is unwilling to face up to. And it’s Cathy, knowing that her father has ever less money due to his drinking and gambling, marries a wealthy neighbour Edgar Linton (Shazas Latif). Heartbroken Heatcliff leaves only to return five years later as actor Jacob Elordi no longer looking like a Charles Manson tribute act but instead a well groomed dashing GQ Man of the year and often in a rain drenched, torso hugging shirt. Cathy meanwhile is now Margot Robbie, all bodices and jewellery and her passion for him is understandably ignited once more as they begin an affair.
But unable to leave he husband for him Heathcliff marries Edgar’s sister Isabella (Alison Oliver providing the comic relief) and his treatment of her is shocking effectively turning her into a subservient slave to spite Cathy. And yet he still pines for Cathy and via Isabella he bombards her with letters that she never receives with her housekeeper Nelly (Hong Chau) intercepting them and the emotional tragedy escalates.
This is a lavishly staged spectacle with often beautifully lit scenes of desolute moors and striking sets and Robbie and Elordi make a stunning couple with their scenes often having an intensely sensual aspect to them. But for purists this 2026 version, much like the 1939 version, is only half the book. And the books view of race, notably Heathcliff’s, is overlooked in the casting of the white Australian Elordi (whose Yorkshire accent is pretty good here) in what would seem a theme ideally suited for a modern audience although the introduction of mild BDSM elements seem more akin to drawing controversy than anything else. Cathy’s older brother has been dropped from the script but his actions have been absorbed into her father’s character and Nelly the housemaid who the story is often relayed through her eyes in the book is underplayed in the script.
For Bronte purists this adaptation is likely to irritate and anger yet nonetheless there is much to admire in this adaptation for those unfamiliar with the doomed couple’s self-destructive love story. But Emerald Fennel, in what is her third feature film, continues an upward escalation to being one of Britain’s most exciting talents.
related feature ; Emerald Fennell’s ‘Promising Young Woman’ controversy…..
related feature : Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi, Emerald Fennell & Martin Clunes !! on the Wuthering Heights red carpet
Here’s the Wuthering Heights trailer…..
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