The primary evaluations of Wuthering Heights are in, and it is nicely on its approach to setting an unbelievable report after practically a century.
Primarily based on Emily Brontë’s controversial but basic 1847 novel, the upcoming adaptation is written and directed by Emerald Fennell, who can also be the mastermind behind the Oscar-nominated Promising Younger Lady and the viral sensation Saltburn. Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi painting lovers Catherine “Cathy” Earnshaw and Heathcliff, however their story takes a darkish flip when a necessity for revenge hurts many households.
In accordance with Rotten Tomatoes, the brand new Wuthering Heights movie has debuted with a strong 71% rating based mostly on 49 evaluations. Whereas the rating will probably fluctuate nearer to its launch, this at present makes it the second-highest-rated adaptation of the Brontë novel because the 1939 model starring Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon. The basic earned a really sturdy 96% rating and stays the gold customary to this present day after grabbing eight Academy Award nominations.
|
Wuthering Heights Diversifications |
Rotten Tomatoes Critics’ Rating |
Rotten Tomatoes Viewers Rating |
|---|---|---|
|
Wuthering Heights (1939) |
96% |
85% |
|
Wuthering Heights (1970) |
64% |
62% |
|
Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1992) |
31% |
66% |
|
Wuthering Heights (2011) |
69% |
47% |
|
Wuthering Heights (2026) |
71% |
N/A |
In comparison with previous Wuthering Heights diversifications, many critics are forgiving the newest try’s lack of faithfulness to the novel. Fennell’s modernized interpretation creates a messy world for the 2 lovers, an strategy that appears to work in delivering the heart-pounding love story.
Robbie and Elordi’s chemistry is usually receiving reward for showcasing Cathy and Heathcliff’s scorching and juicy romance. Particularly, Elordi’s efficiency appears to be the standout between the 2, with critics describing his Heathcliff as merciless. Nonetheless, not everybody was astonished by the primary duo, with some calling the pair miscast.
The evaluations do not come with out a stern warning that the brand new Wuthering Heights could upset literary purists. Moreover, a number of the combined evaluations careworn the film’s situation with fashion over substance. Fennell’s filmmaking fashion is usually audacious and stylistic, with the trailer seemingly indicating the same visible strategy to Saltburn. Regardless of some flaws, many critics deem it one of many higher Wuthering Heights iterations.
In ScreenRant’s evaluate of Wuthering Heights, Gregory Nussen was displeased with the difference, describing it as “flavorless, skin-deep and oddly staid.” Compared to Brontë’s iconic novel, they discovered the reimagining to lack the sociological and emotional depth, and that the forged efficiency was uneven, significantly as Robbie and Elordi’s chemistry “is palpable, but restrained, and, both method, out of contact with the tempestuousness of the supply materials.”
The movie was awarded 4 out of 10 stars as a result of “the issue with Fennell’s movie is not a disregard for literary faithfulness however what that disregard reveals about her and what it interprets into on the display screen,” and “that its nonchalance about color-specific casting reveals a filmmaker utterly insensitive to the implications of race within the late 18th century.”
Forward of the film’s launch, the movie was met with immense controversy for casting Elordi within the position of Heathcliff. Within the novel, the male protagonist is described as “dark-skinned gipsy,” which might point out that he’s an individual of shade. Nonetheless, Elordi, who’s a White Australian actor, was forged within the position, which led to outrage that the upcoming adaptation was whitewashing the primary character.
Within the months main as much as Wuthering Heights launch, Fennell defended the casting alternative as a result of Elordi with the sideburns “seemed precisely just like the illustration of Heathcliff on the primary e-book that I learn.” Whereas chatting with The Hollywood Reporter final month, she doubled down on that stance and acknowledged that there are such a lot of completely different takes: “All I might do was make a film that made me really feel the way in which the e-book made me really feel, and due to this fact it simply felt proper to say it’s Wuthering Heights, and it isn’t.”
Heathcliff has traditionally been performed by White actors, together with Laurence Olivier, Timothy Dalton, and Tom Hardy. The one exception was Andrea Arnold’s 2011 model, the place James Howson grew to become the primary Black actor to painting the primary protagonist.
Along with the casting controversy, the Wuthering Heights trailer fueled backlash for its overly sexualized and erotic strategy when the novel is a couple of darkish and violent revenge. The filmmaker additionally defended this situation by stating that the movie will not be a literal adaptation and that “There’s an unlimited quantity of sado-masochism on this e-book,” which influenced “a sort of masochistic train” in filmmaking (by way of The Guardian).
Wuthering Heights is the one e-book ever printed by Brontë, who died in 1948. Though the novel was initially polarizing throughout its time, it will definitely grew to become a literary basic as a result of Gothic parts and themes of affection, jealousy, and social class.
Wuthering Heights will launch in theaters on February 13, 2026.
- Launch Date
-
February 13, 2026
- Runtime
-
136 Minutes
- Director
-
Emerald Fennell