By Dan Skip Allen 

Wuthering Heights is the only novel from Emily Brontë’s which was published in 1847, and is considered a classic of English literature known for its passionate, dark, and tragic story of love, revenge, and obsession between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, set on the bleak Yorkshire moors. The novel explores themes of social class, nature, and the supernatural through a complex narrative structure, detailing how the intense, thwarted love between the protagonists destroys them and those around them, and how their legacy affects the next generation, so it makes sense that Emerald Fennell would want to make her own twisted version of this classic story into a film. Does it work? That is the question. Here are my thoughts.

In a cold opening, Catherine (Charlotte Mellington, Margo Robbie) is a young girl who likes to do things on her own. She explores the area where she lives and has a good time as a kid. Things get better for her as she gets a new playmate who she names Heathcliff (Owen Cooper, Jacob Elordi). Together, they have a lot of fun, but one thing remains true. She is the daughter of a gentleman, and he is a stable boy who works for them. They can’t technically be together whether they like each other or not on a romantic level. Things between the two get even more complicated as they both become adults. She needs to marry an aristocrat, and he is stuck back at the heights doing her father’s chores. Until he finally decides to take his destiny into his own hands. Leaving the woman he loves behind so she can marry and get the life she thinks she deserves.

Fennell indeed puts her own twist on the classic text. She has had a specific style she puts into her films. She uses editing, beautiful cinematography, and production design to give her movies a specific look. Even this period piece version of the story that has stuffiness all over it is turned into a twisted version of the story. She kept the classic costumes with some absolutely amazing dresses and suits for the Robbie character and a couple of the others. This is an early contender for best costumes at next year’s Academy Awards. The cinematography by Linus Sandgren is breathtakingly gorgeous. The Yorkshire Dales, with all of the fog and rain, looked amazing on film. The landscapes weren’t the only thing that looked so good, though. Even the structures like the Linton house and Earnshaw house, Wuthering Heights, were shot incredibly well. Some of the nighttime hallway shots were incredibly well lit with reds and other colors. She knows how to give her films a look that stands out among other aspects of the movie.

Fennell combined Brontë’s story and wrote an interesting script. She took an otherwise boring text and infused some life into it. The original story had steamy sex and love, but it also had deception and revenge. Fennell kept all of that stuff in the story, but she did it in a way that fits more into today’s sensibilities. Women are more forward with their look and dress, but men are also dogs like they’ve been for years. Giving the story an influx of sultry sex and lovemaking was problematic the way to go. She even added a comedic element right from the very beginning of the movie. What sounds like one thing turned into something entirely different, which had my audience laughing perfumery. One character in particular gets a lot of laughs, but not in a good way. That’s just the way she was written. This was a great script. 

Margot Robbie has done it all in her career to this point. She’s worked with some of the biggest stars in the business in her career. Leonardo DiCaprio,  Colin Ferrell, Sébastien Stan and Jacob Elordi.  She’s also worked with some of the most well-known directors like Martin Scorsese, Craig Gillespie,  Koganada, and now Emerald Fennell. She has chosen roles that have expanded her filmography and range as an actress. The role in “Wuthering Heights” is no different. She plays a spoiled rich girl who acts like a child when she doesn’t get what she wants or rather the man that she wants. You can’t have everything a wise man told me once. That idiage plays here in this circumstance. More women should learn that lesson. I think it’s an important one.

Jacob Elordi has had a meteoric rise to fame in his career. He started out as a heartthrob on the mega hit dramatic series on HBO Max, Euphoria. Along with a handful of others. Working with directors like Guillermo Del Toro has helped him become one of the best young actors working today. He is currently nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Frankenstein’s monster in Frankenstein, and he has already taken home a Golden Globe for the same role. Now he gets to work opposite one of the best actresses in the business in Robbie. He holds his own in this interesting take on the classic literary character. Him and Robbie have great chemistry and love to hate each other at times. Their banter together, even in the style of writing of Brontë is pretty funny. They knew the job they were taken with. Combined with Fennell, they made this adaptation of the classic novel and early success for Warner Brothers in 2026.

A couple of the technical aspects I loved about this film were the score, Anthony Willis, and the soundtrack. This was a fantastic score with dramatic moments. Highs and lows to mark the various situations within the movie. Charli XCX wrote a song for the film, and it went right in line with the style Fennell was going for. A few other songs also worked in context to the story she was telling. I really enjoyed all of the music in this film. It added good elements to the movie. This is a composer to look out for in the future.

“Wuthering Heights” is an interesting take on this steamy love story. Shows like Bridgerton and of films like Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility don’t hold a candle to this wild take on this classic. Combined with Brontë Fennell captured the essence of the story and added her own flair to it to give people a new take on the literary classic. The acting from Robbie and Elordi was very good, but some of the supporting characters stood out to me, such as Alison Oliver, who was a surprise. The technical stuff like the costumes, cinematography, production design, and score were all standouts and should be considered for awards next year. This film shows when you put good talent on a film no matter the topic of origin of the story you can make a good movie. That’s the case here. This could have been another boring attempt at telling this story. Instead, it was an existential take on it. Which was the better way to go?

4 stars