“Wuthering Heights” is an adaptation of Emily Brontë’s classic novel, telling the story of Catherine (Margot Robbie), a wealthy woman whose father adopts an unnamed, lower-class boy, Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi). The two grow fond of each other but not before Catherine is unable to marry Heathcliff because of his societal status, leading Heathcliff to take revenge on those that have wronged him. Brontë’s novel is a classic gothic epic of madness and obsession, a star-crossed tale of two lovers who can never be. Fennell’s version is…different? Where Brontë explored the filth of humanity, Fennell seems content to create a kinky, erotic drama that fundamentally misunderstands the themes and ideas of the novel, replacing any substance with moments filled with shock value meant to simply… shock. Look at Fennell’s track record as a filmmaker and you’ll notice a pattern begin to emerge.     

This is Fennell’s third film, following her debut, “Promising Young Woman,” a rape-revenge thriller and “Saltburn,” a guy-infiltrates-a-family-and-does-kooky-stuff thriller. While her debut felt promising, sharply written to talk about the modern issues and sexual violence women face, looking closer you’ll find a hollow film grappling with no important issues while having a repugnant ending to boot. Look at “Saltburn” and you’ll find a beautiful movie to look at with an exorbitant number of scenes laden with edgy and “shocking” images just to be shocking and edgy, as well as a brainless plot with nothing to say. Here, Fennell has gone three-for-three.  

To be fair, “Wuthering Heights” is beautiful to look at. The landscapes and set design are gorgeous, the colors are vibrant and rich, and it’s all very pleasant to the eye. Technically, it feels like Fennell’s best film yet. Color is used to display a character’s emotions and desires. Fennell has such an eye for composition and framing a scene that it’s a shame she’s beholden to such flatly written and uninteresting stories. The music by Charlie XCX is also great, even if it is questionable to place hyper-pop in a period piece tragedy.  

The real problem with the film is Fennell’s seeming inability to capture what makes the original novel so special. It’s not a matter of being an adaptation purist, by all means, change a film from a novel; but it’s the filmmaker’s job to capture the soul of the work, rather than desecrate it. Here, Fennell has perverted “Wuthering Heights” into something it never was, more in-line with “Saltburn” than the original text. After the release of “Saltburn,” Fennell was labeled a provocateur in the film community, someone that depicted hard-to-stomach images that challenged an audience. This is purely untrue though, think of the bathtub scene in “Saltburn.” Or the grave scene. Or the vampire scene. Just think of the entire movie, honestly. Fennell’s proclivities lean her to scenes that are all shock and no substance, this film is no exception. There are scenes that will trend on Tik Tok for their “craziness and derangement,” but it’s designed to garner this reaction out of people, not actually say anything.  

Another baffling change to the source material is Heathcliff’s race. In the novel, Heathcliff is depicted as a person of color. He’s forced to bear horrible racism which makes his imminent revenge all the more deserved and powerful. He’s someone that’s been treated horribly his entire life, belittled for his class and his race, and it makes his revenge justified and understandable. So when Jacob Elordi plays Heathcliff (he does a pretty good job) it strips the character of nearly all nuance. This has been a massive point of contention leading up to the film and rightly so. When asked about the decision to cast Elordi, Fennell expressed “you can only ever make the movie that you sort of imagined yourself when you read it.” In addition to this, the film has been marketed as quite possibly the horniest movie ever made with the power to end the world. Every trailer, every clip, and every interview with the stars has positioned this movie as the erotic second coming. Fennell herself said she found herself drawn to the “sado-masichisom of the book.” This element of the film has resulted in the press tour having to revolve around this fact. It’s tiresome.  

“Wuthering Heights” should be in Emerald Fennell’s wheelhouse. The original novel deals in perversity and obsession and tragedy, all themes Fennell has found great interest and success in. It’s a shame then to see her fall so flat here and make something so fundamentally uninteresting. This is a plodding, shock-value based film, and ultimately destroys itself because of it. Fennell has the capability to make a good film; she can create something interesting and moving. She just has to get out of her own way first.