Wuthering Heights review: Robbie and Elordi’s lush but hollow adaptation
Wuthering Heights review: Robbie and Elordi’s lush but hollow adaptation
Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi star in Emerald Fennell's lush, controversial take on Brontë's classic, pairing stunning visuals with a debate over its emotional depth.
Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights arrives as a bold, cinematically lush reimagining of Emily Brontë’s novel. The film wears its carnality and grandeur on its sleeve, delivering a sensory-rich experience that many will find arresting and others will find hollow.
The story centers on a foundling boy—named Heathcliff by Cathy—as their intense, forbidden bond unfolds against the moors, Earnshaw's addictions, and a house in decay. Cathy is played by Margot Robbie; Heathcliff by Jacob Elordi; with Shazad Latif as Edgar Linton; Alison Oliver as Isabella; Hong Chau as Nelly; Martin Clunes as Earnshaw.
The film's visuals are stunning: sweeping exteriors, a wall of sound, and a stream of sensual imagery; but the emotional depth is uneven; some scenes feel over-stylized. The 136-minute runtime packs in mood, menace, and longing in equal measure.
The ending invites debate: critics have argued about fidelity to Brontë’s themes, with some adaptations choosing catastrophic conclusions and others offering divergent finales. This version rides toward a sunset while lingering on Heathcliff's unquenched longing, a choice that will fuel conversation among fans and newcomers alike.
For Brontë fans and cinema lovers, the release lands amid a wave of adaptations and a cultural pilgrimage to Haworth’s Brontë Parsonage Museum, underscoring the enduring pull of the moors and the novel that started it all.
