Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” has been unveiled to members of the film press ahead of its Feb. 13 release, and first reactions are calling the steamy literary romance a “bodice-ripping crowd-pleaser” that is “destined to be a massive hit for Warner Bros.”
Critic Courtney Howard posted a glowing review on X, calling Fennell’s latest “a god-tier new classic.”
“Intoxicating, transcendent, tantalizing, bewitching, lust worthy, hypnotic,” Howard wrote. “Expertly captures the breathtaking ache & essence of desire. [Linus] Sandgren’s cinematography, spellbinding. [Suzie] Davies’ production design, sublime.”
Variety senior artisans editor Jazz Tangacy also praised the film on X. She called “Wuthering Heights” a “scorching hot twisted tale” and lauded the chemistry between stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi as “a whole other level of HOT!”
“Only Emerald could take a classic, turn it on its head, make you fall completely in lust, and then utterly destroy your soul,” she wrote. “An exquisite spectacle of craftsmanship that left me salivating over the costumes, cinematography and production design. Obsessively in love with it.”
Entertainment writer Scott Menzel smelled box office success for “Wuthering Heights.” He wrote on X that the erotic drama is “destined to be a massive hit for Warner Bros.” and will establish director Fennell as “one of the most in-demand filmmakers working today.”
“A breathtaking visual work of art, the film feels like it will be a major awards contender, particularly in cinematography, costume design, production design, and score,” Menzel wrote. “And if you already thought Jacob Elordi was the next big thing after ‘Euphoria,’ ‘Saltburn,’ and ‘Frankenstein,’ just wait until you see him here. The sexual tension and chemistry between Margot Robbie and Elordi is so intense you can practically cut it with a knife.”
IndieWire editor at large Anne Thompson also predicted commercial glory for “Wuthering Heights.” She wrote on X, “‘Wuthering Heights’ will open well and soar at the box office. It’s a rip-roaring, bodice-ripping crowd-pleaser. Both Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie will come out ahead. Audiences will fall for Emerald Fennell’s garish visuals and unrestrained direction. Everything is BIG.”
Based on the 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, the film follows the deliciously forbidden romance between Robbie’s Cathy, a wealthy 19th-century patrician, and Elordi’s Heathcliff, a hunky high-society pariah who, after Cathy swears her heart to another, returns to Wuthering Heights to fight for her love. Alongside Robbie and Elordi, the film stars Hong Chau, Alison Oliver, Shazad Latif, Martin Clunes and Ewan Mitchell. The film also features original music from pop superstar Charli xcx.
“Wuthering Heights” was first, and most famously, adapted to film by master director William Wyler in 1939, with Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier in the starring roles. In 2011, “Fish Tank” director Andrea Arnold helmed another version starring Kaya Scodelario and James Howson. There was also a 1970 rendition starring Anna Calder-Marshall and Timothy Dalton, a 1992 adaptation with Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes and an ITV mini-series with Charlotte Riley and Tom Hardy.
Fennell is a self-proclaimed superfan of the source material, telling a panel at the Brontë Women’s Writing Festival in England in September that she’d “be furious” if she wasn’t the director to bring “Wuthering Heights” into the modern age. She added that she wants her version to make audiences feel how she felt reading “Wuthering Heights” for the first time.
“I wanted to make something that made me feel like I felt when I first read it, which means that it’s an emotional response to something,” Fennell said. “It’s, like, primal, sexual.”
Check out the trailer for “Wuthering Heights” below.
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