I didn’t have high expectations for Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Wuthering Heights. The book never made much of an impact on me and I thought the much-revered romance between Heathcliff and Catherine was nothing short of toxic. 

However, I did love Fennell’s Promising Young Woman so I was intrigued by what she’d do with this film. Plus, Cineplex in Toronto was still having its $5 movie ticket days so Mon and I decided to check the film out. 

The hall we went to was quite packed despite it being a Tuesday night. Looks like a lot of people were taking advantage of that $5 ticket.

The film starts off unexpectedly—with a hanging, attended by young Cathy Earnshaw (Charlotte Mellington) and her companion, Nelly (Vy Nguyen). You know immediately that these are not ordinary folk—the children marvel at the sight of the twitching body. They then go on to enjoy the rest of their day, seemingly rejuvenated by the vicious passing of an unknown man. Fascinating. 

It isn’t long before we realise why this episode was so fulfilling for the children. We get a glimpse of Cathy’s dredge of a life with her father, Mr Earnshaw (Martin Clunes), a man with a volatile nature, sweet one moment, raging the next, and often very drunk. No wonder the hanging was the highlight of the day.

But things take a turn for the better with the arrival of a quiet, practically mute, boy who Cathy names Heathcliff (Owen Cooper). We never find out his real name. Cathy is extremely fond of her new ‘pet’, taking him everywhere, trying to make him like herself. She never notices how Nelly feels left out or lonely.

As the friends get older, they become surprisingly similar–both Cathy and Heathcliff are cutting in their humour, even dangerously mean. But the divisions between them also become harder to ignore. Cathy (now Margot Robbie) is flighty, haughty, desperate for attention, and constantly complaining. Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi) is hard-working, hopelessly devoted to Cathy, but also unable to fulfil all of Cathy’s desires. He struggles to learn how to read and write, for instance.

But there is a bigger issue at hand. Mr Earnshaw is a reckless gambler and this family is struggling with money, to the point of bankruptcy. When the Earnshaws get a new neighbour, Edgar Linton (Shazad Latif), Cathy sees an opportunity to improve her situation, if not her family’s.

And thus begins the love triangle, and eventually quadrangle with Edgar’s ward, Isabella (Alison Oliver), in the mix, that will unravel the fabric of this weird family bond.

I want to touch on the performances first. Aside from a couple of early scenes when both Robbie and Elordi struggled with their accents, they settled down fairly quickly. I didn’t think about their accents for the rest of the film.

Margot Robbie is a good actor. I’m pretty sure you could give her any role and she’d do an excellent job. She captures the flightiness, haughtiness, and cruelty of Cathy from the time she’s a young woman to when she’s older and more self-possessed. Also, she is so ridiculously beautiful to look at. No wonder she was Barbie. Fennell and the costume and makeup teams knew exactly how to style Robbie so she looked glamorous and ethereal, while also knowing how to tone it down when Cathy was on her deathbed. The lighting was perfectly directed to highlight the otherworldly beauty that Cathy has, no matter what the weather was like. Great team effort.

Elordi is surprising me. I’d only known about him from his work in some Netflix YA rom-coms but I’ve really only seen him in Frankenstein where he was shockingly good as Creature. Watching Wuthering Heights, I think Elordi might be a really strong actor. He’s able to disappear into roles despite being as tall and conventionally good-looking as he is. He’s also not afraid to ugly it up, if Creature and the first half of this film are anything to go by. And I like how Elordi is able to be charming and intimidating without being off-putting. Might have to keep my eye on him.

I haven’t seen Hong Chau in much except The Whale, a movie so offensive to fat people that it should be avoided. For more of my thoughts on that mess, read my review at WWAC. However, Chau is a good, natural actor, and she brings that simple flair to her role as Nelly in Wuthering Heights. Between her and Vy Bguyen as young Nelly, we get to see more layers to this companion character than one would expect. While Cathy only sees Heathcliff’s devotion, she never sees, and even takes for granted, the same from Nelly. It is Nelly who is always by Cathy’s side, listening to her whingeing about some nonsense or other, shielding her from her father’s rages, making her feel better when things are bad. Yet, Cathy has the gall to ask Nelly if she’s ever loved anyone as deeply as Cathy loves Heathcliff. With but a simple look, Chau clearly indicates to the audience the moment Nelly’s lifelong devotion has turned to revenge. We’re not meant to agree with what Nelly does to keep the lovers apart, but we understand the deep hurt that’s driving her actions.

It was lovely to see Shazad Latif on the big screen again. Mon and I have been captivated by him since seeing him as Ash Tyler on Star Trek: Discovery. You can hear about that in our review episode of Discovery here. Mon’s been watching Latif on the show Nautilus, but it had been a minute since I’d seen him. He doesn’t have a very large role in this film but he has a calming, understandable presence that I enjoyed. Edgar Linton is a stock character–he’s got the money that will save Cathy from a life of drudgery, but he’s an older man without any obligations and no cause to chase excitement. He doesn’t mind sitting hours in the same room as Cathy, with the two of them just reading. Edgar brings comfort when Cathy needs fire. Interestingly, Latif is only two years older than Robbie, so I’m impressed that he brought such an elder statesman vibe to Edgar.

I know people are upset that Elordi, a white actor, was chosen to portray a character many read as Romani–this is something that keeps happening in Hollywood. Romani characters are almost never portrayed by actual Romanis. Apparently there’s some dispute over Heathcliff’s origins so the production team might be able to use that as a defense. On the other hand, I do love that Chau and Latif are playing characters that could easily have been played by white actors, and have been in the past. The film doesn’t give any explanation for why there are different races–it’s merely the world of the film, much like in Bridgerton. I really like that.

In general, the actors deliver what this film needs. There’s nothing Oscar-worthy here–watch me eat my words come awards season next year–but nobody is egregiously bad. The actors have good chemistry, particularly Robbie and Elordi. Their chemistry is critical to Wuthering Heights working at all and chemistry they definitely have. It was a relief to see that, because way too many films thrust an attractive couple of actors at audiences and expect us to just accept the love story on screen even when there is zero chemistry. Fortunately, the casting team got it right here and we get exactly what we need from Wuthering Heights–a pair of star-crossed lovers divided by class and money who journey through friendship, longing, yearning, lust, indulgence, and finally, division and death.

This film is getting a lot of divisive reactions, which surprises me, because it really isn’t that deep, nor is it breaking much ground in terms of cinematic adaptations or gothic romances.

But what I absolutely loved were the visuals of Wuthering Heights. The cinematography is beautiful. The shots of the sprawling acres of green grass, because there’s literally nobody else in this vast area barring the Earnshaws and the Lintons. The framing of Cathy or Heathcliff, and both of them, especially once Heathcliff returns? Absolutely gorgeous, could be works of art.

But the set design and costumes are on another level. Spectacular details, especially the use of the colour red. I love red, anyway, but the choice to use a deep red floor, matching red dress for Cathy, and even when there are bloodstains on Cathy’s dress. It screams gothic romance and I found it so captivating. 

There’s a fireplace that is covered with white-painted hands. Every time it was on screen, I thought it was so beautiful and weird, and I couldn’t stop looking at it. Apparently, the art department used their own hands to cast it, which is a really fun detail!

I can’t not mention Cathy’s bedroom in the Linton house. Edgar proudly shows it off to Cathy, saying he’s had it painted the best colour in the world, the colour of his wife’s beautiful face. It’s so bizarre and even Cathy, who is undoubtedly self-obsessed, finds it odd. But I read that the set design team made photocopies of Robbie’s skin and then added some graphics manipulation to achieve the paint effect. It’s a bonkers detail to add to the film but it’s supremely effective. Once she becomes Mrs Linton, Cathy is exceedingly lonely and bored, not to mention pining away for Heathcliff. By having this room all to herself, Cathy is basically living inside herself. Kinda creepy but a perfect encapsulation of her state of mind.

Despite my apathy towards the novel and people’s bizarre affection for the central couple, I really enjoyed Fennell’s adaptation. I’m shocked at my own enjoyment, because I don’t like period romances. But I thought the directing, editing, and writing for Wuthering Heights were strong. The performances were solid, if not mind-blowing, and the film makes some interesting points about agency, choice, class, and relationships.

I also liked that even though this film has a huge amount of sex scenes, there is no real nudity. Apparently people can still make sexy films without being gratuitous and exploitative. What a relief!

There are unexpected layers to the characters, which is more than I expected to see in this film. I also like that this version doesn’t avoid tackling the cruelty of Cathy and Heathcliff. They are people of their circumstances but they are not nice; they’re cruel to each other, sometimes using that cruelty to power their fetishes, or maybe that is the fetish. But they are cruel to people around them, many of whom don’t deserve it. Not saying that they deserve their fates, definitely not Cathy’s fate, but they could have been more pleasant and understanding.

I understand people are unhappy that this film isn’t a faithful adaptation but Fennell has said that she wanted to adapt her recollection of the book when she first read it, not a scene-by-scene remake of the book. That’s probably why this version of Wuthering Heights works for me, because this is pretty much how I remember the novel. I’m interested to see what others are saying about the parts of the book that were left out.

As far as I’m concerned, this adaptation of Wuthering Heights captures what I’ve always felt about the novel–that two people came together because there was literally nobody else around and Cathy had to make the best choice for her future, which wasn’t the attractive but penniless Heathcliff, but the rich Edgar Linton. Due to the era, once Cathy made that choice, there was no escape. Yes, when Heathcliff returned, they allowed themselves some freedom but in the end, the only real freedom for either of them would be death. This film is a reminder of what was, and in many places on Earth, still is. Let’s learn from the past, celebrate the progress of the present, and make more moves to improve the future.