SPOILER: This column contains spoilers for “‘Wuthering Heights’”
What can I say, I’m a sucker for fantastical period pieces featuring Jacob Elordi, such as last year’s “Frankenstein.” So naturally, I was looking forward to Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of “‘Wuthering Heights,’” released in theaters Feb. 13.
I went in expecting a movie with gorgeous production design, cinematography and costumes, and I was not disappointed. I have never read the Emily Brontë novel, so I had no hang-ups about plot or historical accuracy.
From the trailer, I could tell Fennell was going to take this story in a different direction from the book anyway, creating her own version of the dark tale. I am always on board for these types of book-to-movie adaptations such as films done by Greta Gerwig and Guillermo del Toro in particular.
“'Wuthering Heights’” is set in the late 18th century and is about a girl named Catherine Earnshaw (Margot Robbie) whose father takes in a ward named Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi). They grow up together, but eventually Catherine marries a rich man named Edgar Linton (Shazad Latif), even though she and Heathcliff remain in love.
I found the first half of the movie to be quite engaging. The first 15-20 minutes followed the younger versions of Catherine and Heathcliff played by refreshingly amazing child actors including Golden Globe winning Owen Cooper, who I’m happy to see in more things after “Adolescence.” I found the two endearing.
When we jump to them as grown ups, I found Robbie and Elordi as great fits for each character individually. But something else just felt off. The two of them together seemed to have no romantic chemistry.
The adopted sibling dynamic of Catherine and Heathcliff’s relationship makes their sexual encounters quite uncomfortable in my opinion. Consequently, most of my favorite parts of the film were when they were apart.
The montage spanning the several years after Catherine marries Edgar was a standout for me, alongside Charli xcx’s song “Chains of Love.” The sequence really helped the audience feel the length of time that had elapsed since Heathcliff left.
I also really liked how pretty much none of the characters were good people. I love myself a flawed cast of characters, and this film really delivers that.
Catherine is extremely selfish and cruel to her ward and friend Isabella (Alison Oliver) after she expresses feelings for Heathcliff. Heathcliff is vengeful and gets way too involved in Catherine’s marriage. Isabella is incredibly naive and matches Heathcliff’s freak way too easily. And Nelly (Hong Chau) is mysteriously spiteful, loathing Catherine so much that she’s pretty much responsible for her death. And Edgar… I guess his only flaw is that he isn't good in bed. He was a sweetheart up until the very end, which is understandable since his wife cheated on him.
Another thing I really enjoyed was both Catherine and Heathcliff’s relationship with their father, Mr. Earnshaw (Martin Clunes). You can really see how much of both Catherine and Heathcliff’s twisted nature resulted from Mr. Earnshaw’s abuse. The scene where he died was heartbreaking; we see Catherine lean down to her father and then cut to a shot showing the rest of the room filled with piles of hundreds of liquor bottles.
There are many cool characters in this story, but instead of exploring them more, we instead get a barrage of scenes of Catherine and Heathcliff having the most passionless sex ever presented on screen. Heck, even Heathcliff and Isabella had more chemistry in the few scenes they were together.
Do I recommend this movie? Well, not to my mother. But if you’re anything like me and you enjoy stylized period adaptations that lean more into fantasy than accuracy, then go for it.
