After watching “Wuthering Heights,” I can confidently say I haven’t left a theater feeling that devastated in years — and nearly a week after watching, that heartbreak still hasn’t loosened its grip on me.
“Wuthering Heights” is inspired by the novel of the same name, written by Emily Brontë in 1847. There are obviously key differences between the two, but the film follows the romantic and doomed relationship between Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi) and Cathy (Margot Robbie). When Cathy has accepted a marriage proposal, Heathcliff disappears for years, leading to his return to rekindle his relationship with Cathy.
I’ve seen split reviews, with some people absolutely hating this film and others adoring it — many of whom haven’t even read the book. As someone who has read the novel and adored it, I loved that this adaptation dared to give Cathy and Heathcliff a real chance at romance — something that never becomes a physical relationship in the book — and honestly, I’ll take a love story any day.
What I liked
This was director Emerald Fennell’s vision and interpretation of “Wuthering Heights,” and I ate it up. She gave Heathcliff and Cathy the relationship that they deserved to have, and what many readers craved for them.
This movie isn’t just about sex, and anyone who has actually read the novel understands the intensity and emotional build-up that defines these characters. The physicality in the film doesn’t come out of nowhere — it feels like a manifestation of everything that was always there, waiting to erupt.
Not only did Fennell give these two characters physical intimacy, but she kept the soul and emotion behind their love by including key quotes from the book.
Lines said by Cathy like, “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same,” and “He’s more myself than I am,” showed the yearning.
Fennell also kept the emotion by showing how their love is intertwined with pain and longing, making their bond feel layered rather than simplified for the screen. She allows the two main characters to express anger and madness toward each other. We see Cathy’s pride when she says marrying Heathcliff would degrade her, and we see Heathcliff’s rebellion when he first leaves.
In the end, the film does their love justice, providing Heathcliff and Cathy with closure — no matter how heartbreaking that ending feels.
And who doesn’t love the 6-foot-5, dark-haired Jacob Elordi? I wish I had recorded the theater’s reaction when Heathcliff returns to Cathy — all the gasping, clapping and cheering was SO LOUD, and rightfully so. That man is HOT.
What I didn’t like
Call me a hater, but the Charli xcx soundtrack album was NOT the move. The opening scene of the movie featured the viral song on TikTok that says, “I think I’m gonna die in this house,” and it actually made me laugh — I couldn’t take the Charli songs seriously. Plus, it was a complete missed opportunity to use “Wuthering Heights” by Kate Bush.
While Cathy and Heathcliff’s physical intimacy is all warranted and granted, Fennell does have a unique, oversexualized directing style. There are some weird erotic things that have nothing to do with the plot, like Cathy sticking her finger into a dead fish’s mouth or her skin room. I understand that’s Fennell’s directing style, but she includes some really weird and unnecessary scenes that have nothing to do with Heathcliff and Cathy.
When Cathy eventually stops her physical relationship with Heathcliff, his version of rebellion is marrying Cathy’s sister-in-law, Isabella, and proceeding to openly abuse her physically, verbally and psychologically. This is true to the book, but in the film, it’s portrayed that Isabella is content with Heathcliff’s treatment, almost like she enjoys it.
I don’t think that was the best direction for Fennell to portray that relationship, because in the book, Isabella actually escapes Heathcliff. I don’t like the romanticizing of domestic violence in this film, and Fennell should’ve kept that aspect true to its original text.
The verdict
While I didn’t like the weird, erotic and unnecessary scenes, the fact that Heathcliff and Cathy were able to have an intimate relationship felt deserving after their long-suffering love. It gave their story depth and closeness that the novel never explored.
I’m rating “Wuthering Heights” a 3.5 out of five stars. You don’t want to miss the intensity of Heathcliff and Cathy’s love — or the devastating ending that lingers with you long after the credits roll.
