Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights is bold, emotional, and unapologetically sexy — and it works.
Wuthering Heights (2026)
Run time: 136 minutes.
Rated R. In theaters Feb. 13.
This is not the Wuthering Heights you read in school — and that’s exactly why it’s so powerful.
Director Emerald Fennell takes Emily Bronte’s 1847 novel and reshapes it into something urgent, sensual and deeply emotional. The story is streamlined, the tone is heightened, and the romance is turned all the way up. Some traditionalists may object. Everyone else will be swept away.
At the center are Margot Robbie as Cathy and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff — and together they are explosive. Their chemistry is undeniable. From the moment they share the screen, there’s intensity, danger and longing in every glance.
The film follows their relationship from childhood to adulthood. Heathcliff, an orphan, is brought to live at Wuthering Heights, where Cathy immediately forms a fierce bond with him. Even as children, their connection feels obsessive and all-consuming.
As adults, that intensity becomes passion — and destruction.
Robbie plays Cathy as impulsive, stubborn and fearless. She’s not fragile or polite. She’s messy, emotional and driven by instinct. Elordi’s Heathcliff is brooding and wounded, carrying anger just beneath the surface. He is often cruel, sometimes frightening — yet impossible to ignore.
Their love story is not soft or sweet. It’s volatile. They hurt each other. They hurt everyone around them. And yet the film makes you understand why they cannot let each other go.
When Cathy chooses to marry Edgar for security instead of passion, Heathcliff disappears — only to return years later transformed, wealthy and determined to reclaim control. The emotional fallout is gripping.
The supporting cast adds depth and balance. Hong Chau brings quiet strength to Nelly, who watches and influences the chaos. Shazad Latif plays Edgar as kind and stable — the safe choice who never truly stands a chance. Alison Oliver delivers both humor and heartbreak as Isabella, whose infatuation takes a dark turn.
Visually, the film is striking. The estate of Wuthering Heights feels cold and isolated, while Edgar’s home is warm and refined. The contrast reflects the emotional divide between safety and passion.
Fennell doesn’t soften the darker elements of the story. Heathcliff’s bitterness and Cathy’s selfishness remain intact. But instead of pushing the audience away, the film draws us in. We may not approve of their choices — but we feel their pain.
The movie is emotional without being sentimental. The romance is grand, but the consequences are real. By the end, the heartbreak lands hard.
This version of “Wuthering Heights” is not about strict faithfulness to the novel. It’s about capturing the feeling at its core: love that is overwhelming, destructive and impossible to forget.
It’s bold. It’s dramatic. And thanks to Robbie and Elordi, it burns from beginning to end.
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