“Emily Brontë died of tuberculosis 177 years ago, yet this adaptation is still the worst thing that has ever happened to her.”
Thus begins a disappointed viewer’s Letterboxd review on Emerald Fennell’s 2026 adaptation of Brontë’s 1847 novel, “Wuthering Heights.” Another angry moviegoer’s remark reads “I’m gonna jump from a wuthering height,” while one commenter concedes, “at least it’s pretty to look at.”
Evidently, “Wuthering Heights,” which features Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff, has received mixed reviews. Some praise Fennell’s artistic interpretation of a classic novel and admire it as a stand-alone, rather than a point of comparison to the original work. Others, however, lament the film’s dramatics, casting and overall execution, and many worry that the adaptation strays too far from the original novel.
By the numbers: the 136-minute long film has surpassed its $80-million budget nearly twofold, less than one month after its release. It was released on February 13, 2026, and it will stay in theatres for 70-90 days before becoming available on streaming afterwards, specifically HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, and Apple TV. The film received a score of 58% on rotten tomatoes, 6.3/10 on IMDb, and 77% on Fandango.
But who cares about numbers, am I right?! My opinion is far more important.
So, I decided to take one for the team and go see what this chatter was all about. (You can thank me later.)
My take is as follows:
The final aforementioned Letterboxd review was right: it really is a beautiful film. Each shot was incredible, especially those featuring the Yorkshire Dales National Park in Northern England, where most of the movie was filmed. The costumes were incredible, though they did not reflect the style of the time period in which the story is set. Still, I really loved the wardrobe. I did not like Cathy’s bridal bouquet, however. It was somewhat reminiscent of a table centerpiece for my track team’s post-season banquet last year, which was not quite what I pictured for Cathy.
Much of the movie is set in the Linton family’s mansion, which houses Cathy, her husband Edward (Shazad Latif), his ward Isabella (Alison Oliver), and Cathy’s lifelong maid Nelly (Hong Chau), and it is very beautiful.
Still, I too would consider jumping off of a wuthering height if I were forced to live in this house. For some context, the walls of Cathy’s bedroom are designed to mimic her skin, down to each vein and blemish–yes, her very own skin, lucky girl! I truly don’t know how this detail contributed to the story (if at all), other than by making me feel quite uncomfortable.
The rest of the house is also beautiful but equally unsettling, including a fireplace covered in dozens of ceramic hands, all seeming to reach out of the fire and creep onto the room’s walls. The floor of this room is a cherry-red shiny gloss, providing a sharp contrast with the all-white walls, ceiling and decor. Again, I find myself wondering how these unsettling details contributed anything other than discomfort and odd beauty to the story, but I did find them pretty cool.
I don’t know how I feel about the casting. In the original “Wuthering Heights,” Cathy and Heathcliff are 18 years old, whereas in this interpretation, Margot Robbie is 35, and Jacob Elordi is 28. This age change did cause some parts of the movie to feel a tad out-of-place. Robbie and Elordi are both very talented actors, but their teenage characterization did feel a bit unnatural. Whether this issue could be solved by a different casting or a change to the characters’ ages, it is impossible to say.
It’s also important to note that in Brontë’s novel, Heathcliff is not caucasian, though his ethnicity is never directly specified. His race plays an important role in the book, with Cathy’s choosing to marry Edward Linton (instead of Heathcliff) furthering his portrayal as an “outsider” who is shunned due to his ethnicity. In the movie, Heathcliff is played by Elordi (a white Australian), which many viewers find ignorant to the story’s original themes of social hierarchy and racial discrimination.
Two castings I did love were Ower Cooper and Charlotte Mellington as young Heathcliff and young Cathy, respectively. Cooper, known for his Grammy-and-many-other-impressive-award-winning breakout role as Jamie Miller in Netflix’s “Adolescence” series, was fantastic, as was Mellington, who has not yet acted in a movie or series, to my surprise. They both resembled their older counterparts, which was a lovely touch, and they were very talented and authentic.
Martin Clunes played Cathy’s father, known simply as “Mr. Earnshaw.” He was BY FAR my least favorite character. I will not say any more about Mr. Earnshaw, as even thinking about him is starting to give me PTSD. But Marty did a fine job.
I did love the movie’s soundtrack, and I believe that it bridged the otherwise-unnatural gap between the story’s Enlightenment-era setting and its modern interpretation. Most songs in the movie were produced and sung by Charli XCX, whose style I love. I recommend giving “Dying for You” and “Chains of Love” a listen. If you choose not to, that is completely fine. I understand that you hate me and feel no respect for my opinions.
My main complaint with the movie was that it was very, for lack of better words, weird. There was a LOT of gore and a handful of scenes that were terribly gross. This may sound like a mean thing to say, but on the contrary, I’m sure it was all intentional. The overall “weird” feel of the movie was consistent throughout, and each uncomfortable scene seemed to build upon the last. So though I didn’t necessarily enjoy this unsettling nature, I did respect and understand its contribution to the film’s overall “weird” tone.
But by the end of the movie, I kind of (read: completely) disliked every character. Cathy was very immature and treated Nelly and Edward terribly; Heathcliff was very (very) strange; and Isabella was completely changed by her relationship with Heathcliff. I did not really dislike Nelly, though I did feel that her covert letter-burning contributed to Cathy and Heathcliff’s doomed relationship trajectory.
To my surprise, I did shed a tear or two at the film’s end, though I’m sure part of my sadness was because I knew I would have to study for the next day’s calc quiz upon my return home.
Overall, I would rate the movie 3.5 stars out of five. I am glad to have watched it and would recommend it to anyone (so long as they can handle gore).
And to refute the Letterboxd review mentioned earlier, I do not believe that Emily Brontë would feel more strongly against this interpretation than she would about her ultimately-deadly tuberculosis, but who’s to say.
