Movie Review: “Wuthering Heights”

Director: Emerald Fennell

Cast: Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi, Hong Chau, Shazad Latif, Alison Oliver, Martin Clunes, Ewan Mitchell

Plot: The lifelong romance between Catherine, isolated daughter of a drunk land owner and Heathcliff, an orphan of mysterious origin taken in by her father. As the years go by, and the passion between them grow despite marriages to others, they begin to act out in increasingly cruel ways towards each other.

Review: There’s a certain…buzz…surrounding this film. There’s a strong target audience push in the lead up to Valentine’s Day for this release, and it’s going to live up to expectations in some unusual ways. Emerald Fennell pushed the boundaries of taste with Saltburn and still achieve a large viewership. Taking on the popular dark romance seems absolutely perfect for the occasion. As to the suggestion of this being an especially horny movie…well, they missed the chance to sell branded “Wuthering Heights” hand fans in the lobby. The audience I saw it with seemed to experience the odd ripple as a some moments grabbed their attention.

First up, let’s address the quotation marks. This is a reduced version of the story, from what we understand based on previous adaptations. No framing device, ghosts, Nelly point of view, and a few missing characters. This is the story of Cathy and Heathcliff featuring some real Hollywood level beautiful stars and filmed with an eye for colour and landscape and a fantastic art team. We start with Heathcliff being brought home by Mr. Earnshaw (Clunes) and becoming part of the small world of Wuthering Heights, an isolated and foggy property in northern England. Heathcliff and Earnshaw’s daughter Cathy become close, and as the years go by they develop a powerful attraction to each other.

A couple of misunderstandings later and Cathy (Robbie) is being encouraged towards a marriage with the neighbouring Edgar Linton (Latif), exchanging a loveless relationship in exchange a life of luxury and wealth. Eventually Heathcliff (Elordi) reappears as a socially distinguished and wealthy man and begins an intensely toxic affair with first Cathy, and then Edgar’s young and naive ward Isabella (Oliver).

This is an intensely erotic film, and at times appears to have been visually inspired by pulpy romance paperback covers. Oversaturated colours and deeply hued costumes make it a stunning film, and the perfect frame for the intensely attractive Aussies Robbie and Elordi in perfectly cast roles. I understand why the one-handed corset lift made the trailer, it’s one of many moments that earned an audience gasp. My plus-one leaned over at the reveal of the polished up Heathcliff and whispered “oh yeah, that’s done right”. Nicely timed with the new Bridgerton season, there’s a taste for this type of melodrama and fashion. This delivers on both counts.

What you may not expect is the unusual moments that Emerald Fennell find something sensual. She seems to be playing a game with the audience, challenging us to find something erotic in what we’re hearing or seeing being revealing something unsavoury. We appreciate any director who can openly manipulate the audience. What’s been achieved in terms of a dark and challenging erotic drama is what Fifty Shades wished it managed.

Maybe don’t take your mother to see this one…but definitely go and see it. Margot Robbie is a leading actor in this generation for good reason, but Elordi seems to picked a couple of back-to-back major actor roles that have made him a household name of late. After his transformation from rugged brute to refined society man, he generates a number of loud laughs with his cocksure attitude. He’s like a suave Gaston. Emerald Fennell is three for three in her director career, with this being her best work to date.

Rating: NINE out of TEN