The opening sequence of Emerald Fennell’s film adaptation of “Wuthering Heights” is filled with stress, discomfort and a loud Charli xcx song.
That’s where the similarities stop from the advertisements that led up to the film’s release.
The story, based on Emily Brontë’s classic novel, starts as Catherine and Heathcliff, played by Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, meet as children and grow up together in Catherine’s home with her alcoholic father. It follows them as their connection grows stronger and transforms into one of the most iconic forbidden love stories.
Since this story was first written as a book, you would expect the pacing and character development to be a driving, important factor. However, this film’s pacing was extremely uneven. From a promotional standpoint, it makes sense for Robbie and Elordi to be in the film most of the time, but the jump from children to adults to hard-hitting love felt like it breezed by too quickly. I expected and wanted to be bored in the middle, knowing that the heartbreak I would feel at the end would be worth it. Unfortunately, this felt as if I skimmed through Brontë’s novel.
Robbie and Elordi’s A-list actor status and knowledge of the craft truly held the story together. As a long-time and committed Jacob Elordi fan, this is one of his best projects. His whiplash performance from insane to insanely-in-love seemed almost too natural. Both actors haven’t carried such a heavy character arc in a while. I expected to have seen the acting as more of a Public Relations stunt, but it’s a reminder that hot people can be some of the best in the industry.
The film’s gothic aesthetic significantly supports the film, making it more prominent than the love between the two main characters.
Costume Designer Jacqueline Durran has previously worked on adaptations of classics, like “Little Women” and “Pride & Prejudice.” The stiff corsets with a mix of textures gave the film a modern vibe that carried the film’s hype, which also seamlessly transferred outside of the film to Robbie and Elordi’s press tour wardrobe. While the set design was done by a crew who mostly worked on Fennell’s previous project, “Saltburn,” it screamed the gothic aesthetic the previews promised.
Visually, this film earned five stars. At times, I felt myself not caring about what the next plot point was going to be, because all I was thinking about was how good this film looked. I could watch this with no sound and I would feel the same way I did while viewing it in the theater.
However, the lack of iconic Charli xcx sounds throughout was disappointing. When the film’s teaser dropped in the fall of 2025, the world basically stopped when the popular singer was announced to be making the soundtrack. Lots of discourse online was about how the club music genre would go hand-in-hand with classic literature such as this. Luckily, we don’t have anything to worry about, because it’s only present not even half of the time.
Her usual futuristic sound pops up every once in a while, and when it did show up, it got me excited. With Fennell’s decision to have the film look more modern, the technology-sounding beat drops worked. It felt as if production was too scared to go all-in with the drastic culture mashups and left me feeling clickbaited as I left the theater.
Overall, I love that Fennell knows how to make uncomfortable films cool and trendy, but let’s not make that the only priority when you’re holding one of the most beloved classics of all time.
Abby Madsen can be reached at mads3817@stthomas.edu.
