“Wuthering Heights” is a Gorgeous and Empty Movie (Movie Review)

There are many people with strongly passionate takes on the new Wuthering Heights film. From longtime fans of Emily Brontë’s literary classic to those who soured on the film’s director, Emerald Fennell, sometime after her previous movie, 2023’s Saltburn, unexpectedly exploded into the zeitgeist, the reactions have been loud and varied.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have never had the pleasure of reading Brontë’s novel. This is neither out of spite nor ignorance. It currently sits on my shelf and is next in line. I also quite like Fennell’s previous work. Even though I found Saltburn messy at times, I admired the singular ambition on display, and I consider her debut film, Promising Young Woman, to be flat-out great.

With all of that in mind, I walked into a darkened theater this weekend to see Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights. In nearly every way, I found it to be the most Emerald Fennell movie possible, which works as both a compliment and a critique. The film’s audacity and carefully synchronized craft are difficult not to applaud. However, despite its confidence and visual control, Fennell’s latest effort often feels as though it only scratches the surface of its characters, themes, and emotional depth.

TOP 5 THINGS ABOUT “WUTHERING HEIGHTS”

5. The Music

Noted experimenter and pop star Charli XCX wrote original songs for this new take on Wuthering Heights, collaborating with composer Anthony Willis, who crafted the film’s more traditional score elements. Together, their work is quite strong, giving Fennell’s movie a distinct sonic identity and textured audio landscape that heightens the melodrama in tangible ways.

In many respects, this fusion of period storytelling and ultra-modern music recalls something like Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby, drawing out the connective tissue between eras in a frequently fascinating way. However, that bold stylistic swing also brings a few notable drawbacks…

4. Weak Spot: The Sheer Abundance of Musical Montages

Deciding to have Charli XCX write original songs for your Wuthering Heights adaptation immediately places a central pressure on the storytelling and craft of a film that is still taking shape. You now have to carve out space within the edit for those songs to live. I imagine that was not especially difficult for Fennell and editor Victoria Boydell, who also cut Saltburn, and who clearly love a good musical montage, perhaps to a fault.

There are numerous moments in Wuthering Heights when one of Charli’s songs kicks in and the film shifts into a multi-minute musical montage. The problem is that the way these sequences are deployed often proves directly detrimental to the film as a whole. When Margot Robbie’s Catherine first marries Edgar and moves in with him, Fennell turns the sequence into a brisk, upbeat montage, draining the moment of emotional weight. Instead of allowing us to sit with the conflicting emotions Robbie’s character must be experiencing, the film effectively fast-forwards through this pivotal stretch of her life, all while a Charli XCX track plays in the background.

This was also an issue in Saltburn, where the formation of key relationships was frequently communicated through montage. The result often felt like Fennell telling us that two characters now love each other rather than showing us how that love developed. Here, the habit feels even more pronounced, recurring several times throughout the film and undercutting relationships just as they begin to take root.

3. The Production Design

For all my gripes about Wuthering Heights, I couldn’t help but be in complete awe of Suzie Davies’s impeccably detailed production design. The sets are stunning—so meticulously crafted, with shape and color used in bold, brilliant ways. The Wuthering Heights estate itself is a stark, brutalist, marble-carved marvel, a true wonder to behold. Edgar’s fireplace set blends influences from Jean Cocteau and Dario Argento, creating a singularly breathtaking locale that stands out throughout the film.

Some critics have argued that the design feels overbaked, and while I can understand that perspective, I wholeheartedly disagree. In an era when so much cinema, particularly on streaming platforms, feels underbaked and constrained in the name of misguided ‘realism,’ it was an absolute delight to see a filmmaker paint with the biggest, boldest strokes imaginable on the big screen.

2. Weak Spot: The Second Half

The first half of Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights genuinely feels like it’s building toward something meaningful. There’s intrigue, compelling character dynamics, and rich thematic work, all suggesting a clear purpose. But by the second half, it becomes painfully obvious that no such destination exists. When Jacob Elordi’s Heathcliff and Margot Robbie’s Catherine engage in an emotional and physical affair, the film settles into a pattern of characters aimlessly circling one another for the remainder of the runtime.

This shift leaves the film feeling tedious, meandering, and frustratingly unengaging. By the time it reaches its supposed emotional climax, the cast’s passivity makes the story feel hollow rather than impactful.

1. The Visuals

For all of its shortcomings, I can’t help but kind of stand in awe of the visual splendor with which Fennell and cinematographer Linus Sandgren have created here. Sandgren is among my favorite cinematographers working today, having delivered astoundingly tactical and luminescent work on films like La La Land, Babylon, No Time to Die, and even Saltburn. His use of color and lighting never fails to delight and entice me as a viewer, and that very much remains the case here. Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights is an absolutely gorgeous cinematic work to behold, full of decadent stylistic flourishes and some incredibly strong directorial choices.

Even when it’s not working, Wuthering Heights is never dull to look at.

RGM GRADE

(C)

I am altogether incredibly mixed on Wuthering Heights as a film. I think in the years to come, it will likely be seen as a defining moment for Fennell as a filmmaker—a project that crystallizes her style, perhaps a bit too thoroughly at times.

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