Movie Number 9 of 2026
The Movie: Wuthering Heights
The Cinema: Hoyts Victoria Gardens
Runtime: Two hours 16 minutes
Stars: 4.5
Sometimes it's a good thing to go in with low expectations because you can be pleasantly surprised.
This review comes with two caveats. If you love Emily Bronte's seminal work, you're probably going to hate this. Also, if you're not a fan of Emerald Fennell's other works (Saltburn and Promising Young Woman) you're probably not going to like this much either.
Jonella and I went along to see this tonight and we both enjoyed this. I explained to her beforehand that not reading the book shouldn't be a problem - and then she got my long-winded explanation about how you either fall into the Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights camps and how I believe Wuthering Heights is trauma porn and how Emerald Fennell is the absolute bomb. She had the good grace not to roll her eyes. Sometimes my enthusiasm can be mistaken for Pandora-splaining.
Regardless, and despite some pretty dismal reviews, we really enjoyed this.
The story doesn't deviate too far from the book - and thankfully it cuts out the very first section of the book where you meet an old and bitter Heathcliff years on. This concentrates more on Nelly the lady's maid's story.
Cathy Earnshaw (Margot Robbie) is the spoiled daughter of the hard-gambling, heavy drinking Mr Earnshaw (Martin Clunes). One day, he brings home a bedraggled boy, often said to be of Romany origins, possibly to pay off some of this debts. Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi) obviously has some heavy trauma to deal with, but he and Cathy become friends, with that intensity that only children can attain. The two of them stick together, keeping themselves safe against Mr Earnshaw's rages. All the time, Nelly (Hong Chau) keeps an eye on the pair.
When a new family move into a neighboring property, Cathy is curious - and after a nasty fight with Heathcliff and her father, ends up at Thrushcross Grange, where she meets Edgar Linton (Shazad Latif) and his ward Isabella (Allison Oliver). Edgar and Cathy marry, but then the fun starts. Heathcliff disappears for some years, Isabella proves to be a little bit unstable, and on Heathcliff's return, he and Cathy begin an illicit affair.
It all ends in tears. Of course it does.
Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised. As Emerald Fennell's films go, this is probably her most approachable, especially if you don't like her style. There's a bit of an ASMR** feeling to it. Fennell's movies are incredibly visceral, and this film starts with a hanging of all things. Hmmm. There's blood, puke, leeches, animals being slaughtered, some corporal punishment (though mostly unseen). Oh, and a heap of rain. Our protagonists seem to spend half the movie drenched - then again, it is the Yorkshire moors.
The acting is good too. Elordi and Robbie, two of Queensland's greatest exports are very good as the star-crossed lovers. My one criticism is that very occasionally, their Australian accents slipped in. Allison Oliver was great as the very unhinged Isabella - she was having a ball. Fennell likes to use cast from her stable. Elordi and Oliver were in her marvelous Saltburn, and she worked with Margot Robbie on the Barbie film.
This is also glorious to watch. The sets, the moors and the whole aesthetic is wonderful. Once again, Fennell likes to engage all of your senses.
I walked away with a tear in my eye, very pleasantly surprised. I'm glad Jonella liked it too.
This won't be a film for everybody. I reiterate, if you're not a fan of Emerald Fennell's other work, or you love the original novel, I'd go in prepared to not enjoy this. If you go with an open mind and don't mind being confronted a little you might be pleasantly surprised.
** ASMR - a feeling of well-being combined with a tingling sensation in the scalp and down the back of the neck, as experienced by some people in response to a specific gentle stimulus, often a particular sound.
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