Emerald Fennell’s ‘Wuthering Heights’: A Passionate, Visually Stunning Adaptation

Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of “Wuthering Heights” isn’t a reverent retelling, but a visceral, emotionally charged experience born from a deeply personal connection to Emily Brontë’s novel. The filmmaker, speaking alongside stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, described her approach as an attempt to recapture the “most physical emotional connection” she felt reading the book at age 14. The result, arriving in theaters February 14, is a visually sumptuous and deliberately provocative take on the classic tale of obsession and revenge.

Fennell’s enthusiasm for the source material is palpable. She recounted a trip to the Brontë Festival of Women’s Writing in West Yorkshire, England, in 2025, where she felt an immediate kinship with fellow Brontë devotees. “I was like, ‘These are my chicks,’” she said, laughing. “We all want to sleep in a coffin.” This darkly humorous sentiment underscores the film’s willingness to embrace the novel’s gothic sensibilities and explore its more unsettling themes.

The director acknowledges the inherent challenges of adapting such a well-known and often-analyzed work. “I care so deeply about this that I couldn’t hope to ever make a perfect adaptation because I know my own limits,” Fennell admitted. Instead, she focused on capturing the raw emotional core of the story, prioritizing feeling over strict fidelity. She described the novel as a space for “wish fulfillment,” and her film reflects that desire, amplifying the sensual and psychological intensity of the relationship between Catherine Earnshaw (Robbie) and Heathcliff (Elordi).

Here’s Fennell’s third collaboration with Robbie’s production company, LuckyChap Entertainment, following the critically acclaimed and Oscar-winning “Promising Young Woman” (2020) and the provocative thriller “Saltburn” (2023). Fennell’s signature style – confrontational, visually striking, and unafraid to provoke – is fully on display in “Wuthering Heights.” Robbie, who also produces, hadn’t previously acted in a Fennell-directed film, but actively sought the role of Cathy. “I did find I was putting myself in Cathy’s shoes and reading the lines and thinking, ‘How would I play it?’” Robbie explained. “I was so relieved that it was her who made the first move.”

Elordi’s casting as Heathcliff was equally deliberate. Fennell revealed she envisioned him in the role after seeing his performance in Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein”, recognizing his ability to embody the character’s complex and often contradictory nature. “Heathcliff is an extreme antihero,” Fennell said. “Jacob has a sensitivity and groundedness that makes us forgive all that.”

The film’s production prioritized a creatively safe environment, allowing the actors to fully inhabit their roles and explore the characters’ emotional depths. Fennell encouraged experimentation and a willingness to “go too far,” pushing the boundaries of performance. Robbie echoed this sentiment, stating, “I like going too far… She rarely tells me to pull it back.”

Fennell’s adaptation takes liberties with the source material, streamlining the plot by removing the second-generation narrative and shifting the blame for Cathy’s unhappiness from her brother to her father. More significantly, the film introduces explicit sexual encounters between Cathy and Heathcliff, moments absent from Brontë’s novel. These additions are not gratuitous, but rather serve to amplify the characters’ desperate longing and the destructive power of their forbidden desire.

The film’s aesthetic is equally bold, featuring vibrant colors and deliberately anachronistic costumes designed by Jacqueline Durran. The goal, according to Fennell, was to prioritize emotional truth over historical accuracy. “It’s nature coming in and nature being kept out,” she explained, referencing the contrasting settings of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. “And it’s about what that means emotionally and metaphorically for the story and for these characters.”

The attention to detail extends to even the smallest elements of the production. Fennell recounted a painstaking search for the perfect jellied fish for a key scene, highlighting the team’s commitment to creating a fully immersive and emotionally resonant world. “We did the takes with a couple of fish, but we all knew the right one when it happened,” Robbie said.

Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” is a deeply personal and unapologetically passionate interpretation of a literary classic. It’s a film that embraces the novel’s darkness and complexity, offering a fresh and provocative perspective on a timeless tale of love, loss, and revenge. As Elordi put it, “This is a director you’re really able to give everything to.” And, judging by the early buzz, Fennell has received just that.