“Wuthering Heights": A Review – Unsex Me Here

****THIS IS A SPOILER FREE REVIEW!! THIS REVIEW CONTAINS ZERO SPOILERS!!****

My Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

My Recommendation: SKIP IT. Some nice cinematography and costumes cannot overcome this rather listless and dramatically mundane movie.

“Wuthering Heights”, written and directed by Emerald Fennell, is a stylized adaptation of Emily Bronte’s book of the same name that chronicles the tragic and passionate love affair between Heathcliff, a poor boy/man, and Catherine, the socially striving daughter of a landowner, in 19th century England.

“Wuthering Heights” hit theatres with much fanfare back in February and made quite a splash at the box office, raking in $242 million on a $80 million budget. I missed it in the theatres – or more accurately…I skipped it in the theatres…but it is now available to stream on HBO Max, which is where I just watched it.

Wuthering Heights has been adapted numerous times into films, most notably William Wyler’s 1939 version starring Laurence Olivier, which was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

This is where I must confess that I have never read Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, published in 1847. The truth is that, as many have guessed but been too polite to mention…in addition to being an ignoramus and entirely uncouth, I am also completely illiterate. I only confess this ailment to you now in the hopes that it helps other illiterates feel less ashamed when they read that I am similarly afflicted. You’re welcome…and remember…you are not alone.

In that context I am comfortable admitting that I cannot and will not critique this film version of Wuthering Heights on its faithfulness to the source material or on any other sort of literary discrepancies. Lots of other people have done that so if that line of criticism interests you there are lots of places to find it…unfortunately this isn’t one of them.

I will critique the film on its cinematic value though…and there is a lot to critique.

“Wuthering Heights” is a strange film, one that I would best describe as a melo-dramedy. The comedy part of the melo-dramedy may or may not be unintentional…it is difficult to tell. The film is oddly ambitious in style and over-the-top in its melo-drama, but decidedly restrained in depictions of its carnal and erotic core.

The film sold itself as a steamy sort of story featuring two impossibly beautiful people, Margot Robbi and Jacob Elordi, in various states of impassioned arousal. Unfortunately for me and my fellow perverts, it fails to deliver much on the titillation front…in fact if memory serves, I don’t think there’s any nudity in the film at all, nor is there much clothed steam and/or sizzle.

Robbie and Elordi are certainly two pieces of genetic perfection but they somehow don’t actually have much chemistry and their acting never feels genuine or combustible enough to make up for all the superfluous silliness that surrounds the romantic tragedy at the story’s center.

Robbie, whose face is so sublime it threatens to tear the fabric of the universe with its perfection, never fails to overcome the sense that this film feels like pre-teen girls play acting a romantic fantasy rather than a grounded tragedy fueled by sexual desire or even…dare I say it…love.

Elordi, who I thought was so good as the monster in last year’s Frankenstein, falls flat as the brooding Heathcliff. Again, Elordi is impossibly handsome, but the abundance of lifelessness in his eyes – which worked so well in Frankenstein, is less than useful here as a man filled with passion and desire.

Writer/director Emerald Fennell, whose previous films Promising Young Woman and the execrable Saltburn revealed a rather heavy-handed dramatic approach and an allergy to cinematic nuance, lives up to her modus operandi with “Wuthering Heights”.

The film, which at times attempts to be a stylistic second-cousin to Baz Luhrmann’s compelling 1997 film Romeo + Juliet, does have some bright spots, most notably the glorious cinematography from Linus Sandgren, and gorgeous costumes from Jacqueline Durran, but beyond that the entire endeavor feels overlong and decidedly listless and lifeless.

Fennell’s greatest achievement with this film is making sex between Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi seem ridiculous and as un-arousing as possible – quite an accomplishment. The sex scenes between these two pieces of human perfection feel like, ironically, an unsexed Barbie doll and a sexless Ken doll being rubbed together with the sounds of heavy-breathing added.

Fennell’s heavy-handedness is on full display from the jump in this movie, as the opening scene shows a man being hung (no pun intended) in front of a crowd who sprouts a pronounced boner while at the end of the rope…and a nun who gets aroused at seeing said death boner. There’s also lots of seductive playing with egg yolks and a snail erotically leaving a slime trail behind on a window. Like I said…subtlety is not Ms. Fennell’s strong suit.

Added into the mix is a soundtrack filled with songs from Charli XCX which adds to the Romeo + Juliet vibes but ultimately never propels the story or the sexy beyond the most mundane of boundaries.

Besides Robbie and Elordi, the cast are all rather underwhelming…with Hong Chau the lone bright spot as Nelly Dean, Catherine’s servant. Shazad Latif and Allison Oliver play brother and sister Edgar and Isabella Linton and seem to be in two completely different movies…neither of which I want to see. Martin Clunes plays Catherine’s drunken father and he brings a bit of bite to his work but it never coalesces into anything worthwhile or even coherent.

Ultimately, “Wuthering Heights” is a social media movie for our artistically anemic times, as it is thin, vacuous, vapid, and venal, and committed to being devoid of any meaning or purpose beyond its own frivolous existence.

If you want to waste some time watching some beautiful people have a sexy and torrid affair on camera…much to my chagrin - ”Wuthering Heights” is not the movie for you…it certainly wasn’t the movie for me.

©2026