By books editor Laura McCarthy.
Emerald Fennel’s latest film has garnered controversy since before it was even released. In a way, the controversy surrounding the film makes it like Brontȅ’s original novel, which also sparked public outcry… but this would be perhaps the only similarity between the text and this new cinematic adaption.
The 2026 release is the epitome of ‘style over substance’.This does, at least, mean it is beautiful to look at. Academy Award winner Linus Sandgren is responsible for the cinematography and makes full use of the Yorkshire Dales location through 35mm VistaVision. The visuals are stunning, at moments ethereal – fog-drenched scenes in the wilderness are juxtaposed with intense Gothic interiors. Such interiors and many of the costumes are historically inaccurate but stylistic in a way which many will appreciate.
This is not the only way in which Fennel goes off-piste with her interpretation, though. In fact, her other alterations are ineffective and downright offensive.
Let’s start with Heathcliff. To me, it is clear that Jacob Elordi was chosen for the role because Fennel fancies herself as something of an auteur. Like Scorsese with De Niro or Wes Anderson with Bill Murray, Fennel has set her sights on Elordi. Unfortunately for Fennel, heightened sexuality, scenes for shock value, extravagant imagery, and a muse are not enough to make an auteur.
As many have already argued, this casting choice also removes the important racial angle which is explored in the novel. In Wuthering Heights, Bronte describes Heathcliff as ‘dark-skinned’, a ‘moor’, and ‘Black’. One of the characters, Nelly, questions his ambiguous heritage when she wonders ‘who knows but your father was an emperor of China, and your mother an Indian queen?’.
At the time in which the novel is set, the slave trade was still active, with Liverpool being the largest slave port in Britain. It should be noted that, in the book, the Earnshaws find Heathcliff at these docks. This adds another layer of complexity to his character, for not only is he working class, he is also a member of a minority group in a world where POC are brutalised. His heritage and backstory are important to the plot, with characters’ racist views contributing towards his vengeful actions. By removing this aspect of his character, Fennel strips back the multifaceted nature of Heathcliff and reduces many of his choices to being immature, and simplifies him to become a more “appropriate” suitor for Catherine.
When taking away this barrier to their romance, it soon becomes exasperating for audiences as it removes part of her motive for marrying Linton. Yes, money is the key component here but so is Cathy’s pride.
Heathcliff is also sanitised and romanticised, with much of the narrative focused on sexualising him. This is perhaps clearest in his relationship with Isabella. In classic literature, Isabella is one of the worst abused, most poorly treated female characters of all time. However, Fennell couldn’t possibly have the “fantasy” destroyed and so, in the film, Isabella is into it, relishing being chained up like a dog. Everything Heathcliff does to her is consensual, removing the more disturbing and horrific side of his character.
Many of his choices also don’t make sense because Elordi is just too old to play the character. The same goes for Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw. For a younger cast, their decisions and behaviour would seem immature but understandable. With Elordi being 28 and Robbie being 35, they are ludicrous as Heathcliff and Cathy. Yes, the characters in the book are also insufferable, but in the way teenagers are. When you are fully grown, the overdramatic tantrums grow dull quickly.
In this respect, it is a shame that the younger versions of Cathy and Heathcliff don’t have much screentime. This was, by far, the best and most promising part of the film. Both Owen Cooper and Charlotte Mellington are spectacular performers here. But it is short lived. I should have liked to see more of them and less of… whatever was going on in the rest of the film.
That first section of their childhood passes so quickly and then we have to deal with their insufferable adult selves for so very long. In all honesty, the film felt like it went on far longer than the actual runtime. A lot of this was down to pacing. There are obnoxiously long stretches of time which revolve around the sex life of Heathcliff and Cathy, whilst poignant scenes are few and far between.
That doesn’t mean they’re not there at all. I enjoyed the moment when Cathy, having been married to Linton for some time, returns to visit her father in her childhood home. This scene is drenched in Gothic horror, with a particularly harrowing reveal of Mr Earnshaw in full grotesque makeup, complete with jagged teeth and yellowing eyes.
The presentation of Mr Earnshaw is not too badly done on the whole. I would say the same of Linton. What is interesting about Mr Linton in the film is that I found him to be quite likable, more so than in the novel. I didn’t hate this. However, I didn’t appreciate how the film begged me to feel sympathy for Cathy and Heathcliff, wanted me to invest in their romance, whilst this poor devil was being screwed over.
Before I rattle on for too long, I have one final criticism. Catherine should have been northern. She obviously wouldn’t speak the same way as Heathcliff due to class, but this RP English is pure cowardice. For a film all about being “sexy” too, I resent the fact that we have decided that northern men can be hot, but northern accents on women is apparently a step too far. For all my fellow northern sisters, I say Yorkshire lasses are hot as all ‘eck.
All in all, this is a visually stunning film, with stylish touches like the stop motion title card to create an aesthetically appealing experience, but with little substance. It reduces the more complex and challenging ideas of the novel to an overly sexualised, insubstantial film, which crawls through the 2hr15 minute runtime.
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