Well folks, the early reactions to Emerald Fennell’s buzzy adaption of Wuthering Heights are in, and it seems the film simply can’t help but draw controversy.
Fennell — known for desecrating bathtubs in Saltburn and desecrating the patriarchy in Promising Young Woman — debuted an unfinished version of her latest film at a test screening in Dallas earlier this week.
While you might think any vehicle for stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi would go down a treat, reports are circulating that the audience reaction to Wuthering Heights was decidedly mixed… kinda like a bathtub infused with, well, IYKYK.
That’s according to World of Reel, which reported that moviegoers were either won over by the “strange” adaptation of the Emily Brontë novel, or outright stunned by it being “aggressively provocative and tonally abrasive”, in the words of one unnamed source.
As for the source of those provocations, the anonymous viewer claims Fennell let it rip with a whole host of NSFW moments, which you might expect from someone who directed Barry Keoghan to fuck a gravesite in the pouring rain.
Per the source, these scenes include, but are not limited to, a BDSM-style sexual encounter involving horse reins, a moment depicting “clinical masturbation”, and an opening shot of a public hanging in which a man “ejaculates mid-execution”.
Oh, and a character nearby that hanging is apparently seen “fondl[ing] the corpse’s visible erection” — AKA his Wuthering Heights, if you catch my drift.
With all that, Saltburn sounds like a cakewalk, so it’s no wonder the insider said Wuthering Heights is an exercise in “stylised depravity”, since there’s perhaps nothing more depraved than necrophilia (seriously, not even Elordi could make that hot).
Even beyond the “salacious detours that serve shock value”, the source was also left wanting on the character front, saying that while Robbie and Elordi deliver “committed” performances as Catherine and Heathcliff, it wasn’t enough to compensate for Fennell’s “cold and unlikable” take on the characters.
The early reviews come after the controversy Wuthering Heights already attracted when its cast was first announced in July of last year.
Beyond the casting of 35-year-old Robbie in the role of Catherine, who is 22 in the book, the film was almost immediately hit with whitewashing allegations given that, in the source material, Heathcliff is generally perceived to have a Romany or Gypsy background.
Most film adaptations of Wuthering Heights have also ignored this aspect of the character, with Heathcliff portrayed over the years by actors Ralph Fiennes (in 1992), Tom Hardy (2009) and Timothy Dalton (1970).
Earlier this year, Wuthering Heights’ casting director Kharmel Cochrane defended her decision, saying there was “no need to be accurate” with the character of Heathcliff because the source material is “just a book”.
“There’s definitely going to be some English Lit fans that are not going to be happy,” Cochrane said.
Whether they’ll be unhappy because it strays from the book or because they just watched a dead guy jizz remains to be seen.
Wuthering Heights is expected to hit cinemas on Valentine’s Day, 2026 — because what’s more romantic than “clinical masturbation”?
Lead images: Elyse Jankowski/WireImage
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