At its core, an enjoyable movie that lacks the complexity to make a lasting impression. The decision to absolutely focus on the relationship of Heathcliff and Cathy leaves a perceptible void of external catalysts to make the plot engaging.

If you have read the book but are happy to give Emerald creative control to make what is essentially a fan fiction adaptation of a classic, then I think you will really enjoy this film. If you are someone who values authenticity to the source material, just don’t watch this. If you have never read the book, I think there is a fun but at times confusing film here. It felt like reading a Twilight fan fiction but not really knowing the characters, I could fill in the gaps somewhat but was still confused by some aspects.

My knowledge of the source material exclusively comes from hours of conversation with my girlfriend, who has read and loves the book. It seems that almost every gripe I have with the film is solved in the book. If nothing else, this film has motivated me to give the classic a go.

I’ll try not to harp on too long because I feel like I truly could write indefinitely about this film. So, in an attempt to keep this short, I will rattle off some of my grievances.

  1. I think teenage Cathy and Heathcliff shouldn’t have been played by Robbie and Elordi. The classic childish standoffish “I hate you (but secretly I love you)” relationship was just infuriating when it’s hard to read immaturity on these all-too-old characters.
  2. Elordi plays younger Heathcliff like a brooding Frankenstein, which really affects their on screen chemistry as young teenagers.
  3. Losing Cathy’s brother and making the father into a bipolar alcoholic waters down both the generosity of the father to endear Heathcliff to Wuthering Heights and waters down the evil brother character, which motivates the desire to leave and the disdain for returning.
  4. Linton just didn’t have the chemistry necessary to establish any conflict for Cathy. If they had a real on-screen romance, you would sympathise more with how hard the decision is for her, but by focusing on her and Heathcliff’s relationship, the viewer has to wonder why she doesn’t just leave, especially relative to how the book seems to deal with this.
  5. I would have liked at one stage for Cathy to deny Heathcliff, just to give some agency to her character and keep the viewer on their toes about what she might do next. She loses a lot of complexity by always succumbing to Heathcliff.
  6. I’m sorry, I just don’t understand why Charli XCX is the soundtrack for this film. I think this fusion of electronic pop anthem and period drama just took me out of the moment and will serve to really date this film.
  7. To me, the compilations set to Charli felt like the stereotypical modern movie trailer sizzle reel set to insert popular song but make it the Imagine Dragons remix. The songs themselves I do like, but I think what could be called an attempt at some interesting cognitive dissonance just results in a perplexing compilation of visuals. Alternatively, at times it felt like so much of this film was like a 00’s YouTube AMV of Naruto set to Linkin Park.
  8. If you want to use modern electronic music with a period piece like this, then I think you need to find a more creative way to film those scenes so as to more thematically match the genre. Fennell has shown she can get more abstract, so embrace it more and make something crazy.
  9. I felt the direction of the sex scene created a relationship that felt more out of something like Fifty Shades of Grey, where Heathcliff’s dominating advances lose any intimacy between the two characters. I just failed to feel love as the driving factor of their relationship. I can see a love through their friendship, but as their relationship crosses from familial into romantic, that lust was just too overpowering. Especially considering Heathcliff’s other relationship with Isabella.
  10. A lot of the symbolism seen visually through the set design and costumes comes across extremely reductive just due to how overt each instance is. In a world where Hamnet can tell so much so subtly through the colors of a character’s dress slightly changing shade, I just don’t enjoy the fingering of egg yolks, the slugs on the windows, and the walls the color of one’s skin, including freckles, veins, and all. When they are so obvious they start to feel pithy.
  11. The 20-odd minutes of sex compilations throughout the movie, I think, removed some runtime that could have ultimately been used to make a payoff of the final scene much greater.

I think that’s 11 points, so I’ll end with this point. In spite of all of my grievances (both listed here and not), I still am giving this film a pretty average rating. It is style over substance, and not particularly a style that my personal preferences care for. But it takes a swing, and for that, I have to give it some respect. The worst thing an adaptation can do is bring nothing to the table. Here, Emerald brings far too much, but amongst the myriad of dishes she did bring to the party, I can absolutely see what it is people like. I look forward to her next film because I think she has a 5/5 from me somewhere in there, but unfortunately, this was not it. If she wants to keep sex at the forefront of her films, I would like to see it better woven into the plot, and to be honest, I would like to see her embrace this weirder, provocateur attitude she seems to have and just make something truly out there, balls to the wall.

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