Wuthering Heights Reviews: Emerald Fennell’s Film Divides Critics

One of the year’s most-anticipated films is almost here, with critics having now weighed in on the new adaptation of Wuthering Heights.

Saltburn director Emerald Fennell’s take on the much-loved gothic novel arrives in cinemas later this week, just in time for Valentine’s Day, with Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie taking on the iconic roles of Heathcliff and Cathy.

Monday night saw Wuthering Heights premiering on Rotten Tomatoes with a critical score of 71%, indicating pretty positive reviews overall.

The bad news? Well, the more negative responses have really gone in, with one and two stars in The Independent, The Guardian and The Times, respectively.

Here’s a selection of what critics have had to say about Wuthering Heights so far, starting with some of the more glowing reviews…

“Fennell channels something essential in the book – the corrosive behaviour that can result from thwarted desire. Jealousy, anger and vengeance are as natural to Cathy and Heathcliff as their endless passion for each other. If you embrace the film’s audacious style and think of it as a reinvention not an adaptation, this bold, artful Wuthering Heights is utterly absorbing.”

“Literary purists may object, but Fennell seizes on something passionate in the material that was always there but never made explicit, amplifying what has gone largely unrequited all these years: the physical desire, of course, but also the mind games by which power shifts between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff […] Fennell’s take is bold and engaging, which are qualities sure to inspire budding young readers, though the Saltburn director has her way with the iconic characters, as anyone might expect such a flashy director to do.”

“Emerald Fennell’s unabashedly horny adaptation of the Emily Brontë classic is best approached on its own terms – not in comparison with William Wyler’s 1939 film, in which [Merle] Oberon co-starred with Laurence Olivier as Heathcliff, and even less so with the brooding gothic source material. This is not your Penguin Classics school curriculum edition.”

“Style over substance? Not at all – it’s more that Fennell understands that style can be substance when you do it right. Cathy and Heathcliff’s passions vibrate through their dress, their surroundings, and everything else within reach, and you leave the cinema quivering on their own private frequency.”

“Jacob Elordi’s Heathcliff is more of a sad-eyed puppy with a slightly dodgy Yorkshire accent than a half-crazed wolf. Margot Robbie, being 35, fails to entirely sell the idea of being a stroppy, sexually naive 17-year-old ingenue. But on the flipside – boy, do they have chemistry. Yes, we get yearning, but we also get filth.”

“Robbie is unafraid of playing up Cathy’s brattiness and selfishness, while Elordi – with his spot-on regional accent – has a combustible magnetism that bristles throughout the film. His temper and her jealousy are too hot, too greedy, as Kate Bush might say, and the same applies to the spicy sex scenes that are much edgier than your standard Victorian lit adaptation.

“Those are among many liberties taken by Fennell, but like some of the costume and production design choices that kick in once Cathy is ensconced in her new life, they feel like intuitive and intentional decisions.”

“With flair and bombast to spare, Fennell reaches such great Heights that this feels like the first must-see movie of 2026, an enthralling retelling of an all-time love story through an accessibly modern lens.”

“Fennell throws everything at this fever-dream adaptation, which massages the senses while showcasing Elordi’s ever-growing star power. If only its electrically erotic energy was sustained to the end.”

“Clocking in at over two hours, there’s no lack of dazzling design and insane ideas to keep every minute of Fennell’s feature thrilling to watch. As with all of Fennell’s films, boredom is never on offer. And yet, that doesn’t entirely dissipate the feeling that something is still missing here.”

“Wuthering Heights is Fennell’s dumbest movie, and I say that with all admiration, because it also happens to be her best to date. Fennell has an incredible talent for the moment, for extravagant scenes that bypass all higher thought functions to spark a deeper lizard-brained pleasure, and for pop-music-scored montages of such lushness that they could levitate you right out of your seat.”

“With a chemistry-free central romance between the bizarrely uninteresting Heathcliff and Cathy, this film self-deflates.”

“Too hot, too greedy adaptation guarantees bad dreams in the night […] Emerald Fennell’s take on Emily Brontë is an emotionally hollow, bodice-ripping misfire that misuses Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi but makes the most of Martin Clunes.”

“Emerald Fennell’s astonishingly bad adaptation is like a limp Mills & Boon […] Robbie and Elordi don’t entirely lack chemistry, but their characters do feel so thinned out that their performances are pushed almost to the border of pantomime. She’s wilful and spiky. He’s rough but gentle. That’s about it.”

“What good is creating such a beautiful world if it’s so vacant? There is nothing that resonates below the surface here; this is a half-remembered story dressed in a beautiful gown that seems destined for TikTok fan edits and Pinterest mood boards rather than soul-stirring emotional catharsis. We are guided by the hand, instructed on how to feel at every moment, and trusted with nothing.”

Wuthering Heights is in cinemas from Friday 13 February. Watch the trailer below: