The hype behind Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Emily Brontë’s classic novel of forbidden love has been huge. Some have taken it upon themselves to criticise the casting immediately, and some have mentioned the content’s steaminess, but until you see the film, can you truly make a constructive decision about whether these concerns are warranted? Now that the film has been released, views are mixed: some people love it, while others see it as a complete disaster. My thoughts, which will be justified in this review, are that I wasn’t bothered by any preconceived ideas, but what made me feel the film wasn’t successful was that the whole thing was massively overcooked and overbearing.

Cathy is a woman living in Wuthering Heights, a property owned by her widowed father, who is slowly losing his money through drink and gambling. Bringing home a young boy he saved from an abusive father, Cathy names him Heathcliff. The pair are unseparable. The tension builds until Heathcliff leaves and Cathy marries a man who moves into a local estate. Then Heathcliff, now a wealthy man, returns, and the tension begins again.

Fennell has made her name in movies very quickly after winning the best screenplay for her debut, Promising Young Woman and then following that with the controversial Saltburn. Her films never shy away from shocking, so would her style of filmmaking work for such an esteemed piece of literature? One thing she doesn’t do is play it safe; in fact, you do wonder if she doesn’t understand the word enough. This is a film that refuses to do things subtly.

Everything is excessive, from the costumes to the set designs to the intrusive score that thunders throughout. In fact, the only thing that is surprisingly underplayed is the songs by Charlie XCX, who are probably the best thing about this film. The sets are extremely over-the-top. So much so that, for me, it was distracting from the action. Looking as if they were designed within an inch of their lives, they are reminiscent of those produced by Hammer Horror in the 50s and 60s. The worst comes in the form of Cathy’s new home with husband Edgar. Who has candleholders shaped like hands? Is this a gothic horror or a romance?

The costumes, especially Cathy’s, look like something a child would make for their dolls. At one point, she is dressed like Heidi. This would all be well and good if everything else followed suit, but Heathcliff starts off like a stableboy (perfectly fine) and then in dark suits, and these work too, so it seems strange that Cathy would be so gerish in her presentation.

Some have said that this is a fan-based version of the story, as the book is more of a tale of the dead. Yet this follows suit to virtually all the film versions from the Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier from 1939, to the most recent, which included the first black Heathcliff by Andrea Arnold. What the film does include is Fennell’s obsession with food and sex imagery, so we get kneading bread in a sweaty way, and one of the most awkward scenes, where Cathy sticks her finger into the jellied mouth of a fish. Subtle.

So are the performances up to the job? As Cathy, Margot Robbie looks the part, even if she is a little too old for the role. She does her best, but she is unlikable as a character, so I found it hard to connect with her. As Heathcliff, fellow Australian Jacob Elordi, coming off the success of playing the monster in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, is fine and does a fair Yorkshire accent, but once again, you will have more sympathy for him if he weren’t so bizarrely brutal, particularly in the final act.

It’s the supporting cast who come out the best. Stealing the show is Martin Clunes as Cathy’s abusive father. We are so used to seeing the actor in lighter roles that seeing him play a man so vile is an incredible transformation, and he brings conviction to every scene. In the role of Cathy’s confidant, Hong Chau, who was an Oscar nominee for The Whale, is the one character you find yourself caring for, and she brings the needed subtlety that the film lacks.

“Wuthering Heights” is massively overwhelming in its look, which takes away any real emotion from the story. It’s the first time I’ve felt that Emmerald Fennell has shown a crack in her armour, and it’s a failure. If the film had been toned down, it could have been a success. Instead, the production design takes away from any real passion, and sorry, but a close-up of a slug is not sexy.

2 out of 5

Director: Emerald Fennell

Starring: Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi, Hing Chau, Shazad Latif, Alison Oliver, Martin Clunes, Ewan Mitchell, Amy Morgan, Jessica Knappett, Charlotte Mellington, Owen Cooper, Vy Nguyen

Written by: Emerald Fennell and (based on the novel) Emily Brontë

Running Time: 136 mins

Cert: 15

Release date: 13th February 2026