Emerald Fennell has become a very talked-about filmmaker in Hollywood following her successes with Promising Young Woman and Saltburn. Meanwhile, Margot Robbie is still riding high off her blockbuster success from Barbie. When it was announced that the two would be coming together for a fresh adaptation of the classic Wuthering Heights, people were intrigued to say the least. Now, it would seem audiences are having quite the reactions to the film's first screening.
The new movie, currently on the 2026 movie calendar for Valentine’s Day weekend, reportedly had a test screening recently in the Dallas area. Reports coming off that test screening from World of Reel indicate that maybe the new Wuthering Heights won’t exactly be the perfect date movie, but it seems like it will surely get people talking.
Margot Robbie’s Wuthering Heights Is Reportedly Getting A Strong Reaction
If there’s a consistency in the reported reactions to Wuthering Heights, it would seem to be that those who have seen it are having a powerful response to the film, though that response isn’t entirely positive. One attendee reportedly called the upcoming book-to-screen adaptation “aggressively provocative and tonally abrasive.” In short, it’s a very different version of the source material than we usually see on screen, but perhaps that's exactly the version of the material one should expect from Emerald Fennell.
The film’s two leads, Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, are receiving solid marks, though, despite some initial backlash to Elordi's casting. Another attendee in the test screening complimented their performances and the chemistry between them. However, for some, it sounds like the strong performances might actually be too good, as the characters they’re playing aren’t necessarily designed to be the most likable people, resulting in some in the audience apparently not connecting with them.
Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights May Be The Most Graphic Adaptation To Date
If the reports are accurate, then the one thing that’s sure is that the new Wuthering Heights will be the most sexually charged adaptation so far, and the most sexually charged movie in Emerald Fennell’s filmography, which is certainly saying something.
The most talked about scene in Saltburn was one depicting masturbation. The new film is seemingly doubling down, or perhaps tripling down, on that, as there are reportedly multiple scenes of masturbation here, all designed to make the audience at least slightly uncomfortable.
Another scene that is mentioned specifically includes a woman being strapped into a horse's reins for what is called a “BDSM-tinged encounter.” When the movie isn’t being aggressively sexual, it’s being aggressively suggestive, with the camera focusing on scenes of egg yolks running through fingers and dough being kneaded.
Even if everything in these descriptions is accurate, and we can’t be entirely certain that it is, that doesn’t mean that the version of Wuthering Heights being described here is the movie that we’ll see next year, at least not entirely. The whole point of test screenings is to gauge audience reaction and potentially make changes based on those reactions. We’ll have to wait and see just what Wuthering Heights is when it comes out in February.
