The new trailer for Emerald Fennell’s controversial adaptation of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights has arrived, promising “the greatest love story of all time” between lead stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi.
We already got a glimpse of the film with the release of a steamy (and divisive) teaser in September, but this new trailer offers a deeper look into the star-crossed tale of Heathcliff (Elordi) and Catherine Earnshaw (Robbie) ahead of the film’s 2026 premiere.
The clip takes us all the way back to the characters’ childhoods, with glimpses of Catherine’s husband Edgar Linton (played by Shazad Latif) and Fennell’s flair for anachronistic fashion choices along the way.
For extra measure, we’re treated to shots of Catherine and Heathcliff kissing in the rain against the backdrop of the West Yorkshire moors in Northern England. It’s all soundtracked by Charli xcx’s new song “Chains of Love”, which she created specifically for the new film.
The musician already teamed up with John Cale for the soundtrack entry “House”, and the two new ditties will form part of an entire album, intended as an accompaniment for the movie and set for release alongside the film.
Titled Wuthering Heights (duh!), the album will span 12 tracks, with Charli recently writing on Substack that she was keen to “dive into persona, into a world that felt undeniably raw, wild, sexual, gothic [and] British” as part of the project.
Speaking of sexual, Fennell’s take on the 1847 novel has already copped backlash for its more erotic leanings, with reports from early screenings in August suggesting that the film features BDSM-style sex, masturbation, and an opening shot of a public hanging in which a man ejaculates mid-execution.
If you’ve seen Fennell’s Saltburn, bathtubs and gravesites included, that might sound tame, but the NSFW moments aren’t the only controversial aspect of her adaptation.
She also caught flak for casting Robbie, 35, in the role of a young maiden, and Elordi as a character who is generally perceived to have Romany or Gypsy background and therefore darker skin.
Casting director Kharmel Cochrane defended her decisions in April, saying there was “no need to be accurate” because “it’s just a book” (gasp!), but the fashion choices — including glimpses of Robbie’s wedding dress and Elordi’s gold tooth — were also called out for being ill-fitting given the original book’s period setting.
How all of this lands with audiences remains to be seen, but we can discover whether the hype is worth it when Wuthering Heights lands in cinemas on Valentine’s Day (February 14). Because what’s more romantic than clinical masturbation?
Lead images: YouTube and X
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