Based on Emily Brontë’s classic novel, Wuthering Heights (2026) is written & directed by Emerald Fennell. It stars Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi, Hong Chau, Shazad Latif, Alison Oliver, Martin Clunes, Ewan Mitchell, Amy Morgan, Jessica Knappett, Charlotte Mellington, Owen Cooper, Vy Nguyen, Millie Kent, and Vicki Pepperdine. The film follows the lifelong love affair between Catherine Earnshaw (Robbie) and her family’s adopted servant, Heathcliff (Elordi). When Catherine agrees to marry a wealthy bachelor (Latif) in order to save her family from financial ruin, Heathcliff disappears without warning. Years later, he returns as a wealthy aristocrat, and the two begin a tumultuous affair that threatens to ruin both of their lives. 

Although Catherine and Heathcliff are two of the more insufferably written characters in recent memory, Robbie and Elordi deliver committed performances. That said, Heathcliff is essentially just the Victorian version of Elordi’s character from Euphoria, which starts to get old when you realize perverse debauchery is all he has to offer. Catherine is easily the more grounded, complex character, which makes Robbie’s performance feel far superior. Thankfully, despite these two coming across as horrible human beings, there’s palpable romantic/sexual chemistry between them. No matter how illogical and immature their relationship seems, there’s always a sense of animalistic desire that helps sell the romance.

The first half of the film plays out as a more traditional romance, which works surprisingly well. Unfortunately, the experience begins to fall apart in the second half. Emerald Fennell begins to rely on countless shock moments in order to keep the viewer engaged. Unfortunately, these do little to serve the overall story, and mostly just turn the characters into irredeemable weirdos. For example, it’s tough to care about Heathcliff’s grief during the climax due to his spending the previous 30 minutes keeping Catherine’s little sister as a sex slave.

   Although the film looks beautiful, it also feels extremely hollow. Throughout all the lust and weird mind games, the film has nothing to say. I’m not familiar with the novel, but I can only assume that this isn’t what the author had in mind. That being said, this is never a particularly boring experience. It’s weird, sensual, and a bit darkly funny. It’s tough to take it seriously, but that’s exactly what saves it from being outright boring.  

Overall, this is a well-shot, competently acted film that’s rarely boring but never particularly enjoyable. Despite being a story about forbidden love, it often feels like a soulless, strictly carnal experience. On top of this, the two lead characters are some of the most insufferable the genre has to offer. Thankfully, there was a weirdness to it all that kept me engaged. That, and a wonderful soundtrack from Charli XCX, save the film from being a complete disappointment. The problem is, I can’t for the life of me think of anyone I’d recommend this to. C