We're still very early in the year, but there may be no more contentious film in 2026 than Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights. Based on the classic novel by Emily Brontë, the film received criticism even in its conception, thanks to Fennell's controversial sophomore film Saltburn (which I kind of love) and the casting of Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi. Furthermore, Charli xcx was brought on to the project to work on the soundtrack, an artist whose music could not evoke the story's time period less. Despite all this, I was very excited for a new Emerald Fennell movie, but I was sadly a bit disappointed.
The film follows Catherine (Margot Robbie), the daughter of a wealthy man, and Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi), a poor boy whom Catherine's father brings home. The two grow up together and have clear love for one another as they reach their adult years, but Heathcliff's lack of social and financial standing lead Catherine to marry a rich neighbor Edgar (Shazad Latif). Heathcliff then runs off for half a decade, coming back a new man and reigniting the burning feelings between them.
I actually wound up reading Brontë's novel in preparation, and this is a real far cry from its source material. It feels less like an adaptation of Brontë's 'Wuthering Heights' and more like an erotic fan-fiction version of the story. I didn't find myself too impressed by the novel, but there's no denying that some of the changes here directly limit the story's impact, namely the complete ignoring of most of the novel's second half. The 1939 film adaptation similarly focused more on the romantic elements of the story, but I actually found that it captured the perfect tone for the story. This rendition strays heavily from the source material, aside from a few specific moments and generalities between characters. You can pretty clearly tell this is made by the same woman who made Saltburn, and at first, that makes for a fun watch, but eventually becomes a bit tiresome. Additonally, Catherine and Heathcliff just aren't great people and these versions of them are somehow even worse.
I found Robbie to be a bit miscast, but Jacob Elordi I found to pretty perfectly capture the broodish yearning that is essential to Heathcliff. The biggest issue I had with the two of them is how overly melodramatic their performances can get at times, something only worsened by the injection of erotica Fennell brings. Hong Chau is great as a largely altered version of Nelly, while other standouts include Latif as Edgar and Adolescence breakout Owen Cooper as the younger version of Heathcliff. One big disappointment I had was the writing for Alison Oliver as Edgar's sister Isabella. I loved the character in the book and I adore Oliver as an actress, but she's written quite annoyingly here.
Despite my issues with the film there are still elements I loved. Linus Sandgren's cinematography is genuinely breathtaking, and accompanied by Anthony B. Willis' gorgeous score, the whole film is a visual and sonic feast. I also found Charli xcx's music contributions to be quite welcome, giving a truly epic feeling to some moments while allowing the centuries-old story to still have a freshness. As you might expect with this kind of period piece, the costumes and production design are also outstanding. There are too many stunning dresses to count, and the sets are rich in detail. That does bring another gripe I have with this adaptation though, that being Wuthering Heights itself. The title comes from the house of the same name, and in both the novel and 1939 adaptation, the house feels like a character in itself. We don't really see that much of Wuthering Heights aside from two or three rooms, and the house lacks the stature that I think it deserves.
I went into this hoping to love it, and despite not being a big fan I still have a lot of love for Fennell as a director. So many people are putting in excellent work here, the finished product is sadly something that doesn't come together. It's still not a bad Valentine's weekend watch, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit let down. 2.5/5
Comments
Post a Comment