Wuthering Heights (2026) Review!!

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.

My Take – Having mightily impressed with her daring directorial skills that showcased ambition, wit, and visual distinctiveness in both Promising Young Woman (2020) and Saltburn (2023), actress turned filmmaker Emerald Fennell has become quite the distinctive voice in the ever changing Hollywood landscape, particularly with her willingness to unsettle audiences. Hence, it came as no surprise that her latest project too, right from its announcement and casting news to its release, has been marred in contention.

After all she was loosely adapting Emily Brontë‘s only novel, a classic of Gothic literature, that stirred up controversy upon publication in 1847 for the cruelty depicted within its pages, but won readers over with its detailing of the intense, destructive, and obsessive love between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw on the Yorkshire moors. A story which over decades has had multiple film & series adaptations, all exploring themes of revenge, class, and social alienation.

And since I hadn’t read the book, and romance has never been my favorite genre, I went in with low expectations given the divisive commentary online, but came out fairly surprised by how director Fennell maneuvered the energy of her previous films to revamp the well-worn material, leaving us with a version that alternates between a classical adaptation and a kind of stimulated postmodern art piece.

A heightened, erotic, and emotionally overheated re-imagining that treats the doomed-lovers story as a fever dream about obsession, class resentment, and self-destruction, while conjuring a dialed-up, meme-able vibe, with its bright colors, lavish costumes and Charli XCX’s infatuating score.

Sure, there is notably more plot to the novel than in director Fennell’s re-imagining, and could have easily benefited from a more grounded approach, especially when Cathy and Heathcliff fight and fornicate like teenagers, ricocheting between lust and loathing, yet, there’s something intoxicating about the setting that draws you in from the very start. Particularly its atmosphere that is thick with longing and despair, and a commitment to emotional extremity that is almost admirable.

Set against 18th-century England’s rugged Yorkshire moors, the story begins by following a young Catherine “Cathy” Earnshaw (Charlotte Mellington), whose fragile and abusive father (Martin Clunes) brings a young boy (Owen Cooper) he rescued off the Liverpool streets to their windswept estate of Wuthering Heights to serve as her pet and one of the house servants. Naming him Heathcliff, the two end up forming a unique bond.

Heathcliff, poor and abused, endures violence simply to remain close to Cathy, while she becomes both his refuge and his reason for surviving. But as they grow older, their childhood intimacy curdles into something darker. As Cathy (Margot Robbie) becomes increasingly aware of class, comfort, and the limits imposed on her as a woman.

She understands that she loves Heathcliff, but does not want to live in poverty, and hence accepts the proposal to marry Edgar Linton (Shazad Latif), a man who offers wealth and security rather than passion. A decision which leads to Heathcliff horsing away for five years, and igniting a chain of betrayal and heartbreak that reverberates through their lives.

Since we know by now that as a writer-director Emerald Fennell has never been particularly interested in restraint, and her adaptation makes that clear within its opening minutes. The film begins with a startling, almost perverse image: sounds that initially suggest sexual pleasure slowly reveal themselves to be the labored breaths of a public hanging. Binding desire and suffering together, while insisting that love is inseparable from cruelty, and pleasure cannot exist without pain.

Here, director Fennell summons gothic romanticism against the rough and wind-swept Northern terrain, and viscerally portrays the raw young love forged between the pair, before status and duty intervene. It’s refreshing since Catherine and Heathcliff do and say far too many terrible things, yet the film still forces you to root for them.

Visually, the film is often extraordinary and gives the eyes a real feast. Linus Sandgren’s cinematography leans into rich, saturated colors that heighten the emotional extremity of every scene. The Yorkshire moors feel vast and oppressive, both freeing and isolating.

The production design and costumes are meticulously considered, often reflecting the characters’ internal states. Cathy’s wardrobe, in particular, becomes increasingly ornate and restrictive as her sense of entrapment deepens. There’s craft on display here; every frame feels designed. And yet, the film’s excess treatment is also its biggest failing.

As at nearly every turn, director Fennell opts for volume over nuance, making the narrative quite reminiscent to decades old Bollywood melodramas, as very character practically tells how they feel and the pacing suffers as a result, with scenes stretching past their natural endpoint, bludgeoning the viewers with the same things repeatedly. I am also not particular sure if this kind of toxic love exactly sends the right message or not.

Still, lovers of the book who are desperate to see it should opt for the big screen experience purely for the visuals and sound alone. I too found myself caught in between admiring the ambition, exhilarated by individual moments, but worn down by the relentlessness of it all.

Performance wise, Margot Robbie looks stunning and handles the demanding arc impressively. Though it has been suggested that Robbie, in her mid-30s, is too old to play Cathy, who is supposed to be start off as a teenager, but it doesn’t really matter as she is, in fact, the kind of beauty men would fight over. Jacob Elordi, fresh from another intensely physical role in filmmaker Guillermo del Toro‘s Frankenstein (2025), is convincingly charming at first and then terrifying as his character spirals into rage. But the rising actor’s gravitational pull is immense. And the chemistry between the two is hot and fierce.

In supporting roles, Hong Chau makes every moment count, Alison Oliver makes for a live-wire presence and Shazad Latif shows excellent emotional range. Martin Clunes and Ewan Mitchell too are adequate in their parts. Owen Cooper, Vy Nguyen and Charlotte Mellington as the younger counterparts are also excellent. On the whole, ‘Wuthering Heights‘ is a visually stunning fever-dream adaptation that is mostly silly but manages to keep one wholly engaged.