If you haven’t heard of the drama surrounding this iteration of the classic novel by Emily Brontë Wuthering Height you might be living out on the moors yourself. Directed by Emerald Fennell, this “Wuthering Heights” has been plagued with controversies since the initial casting, and they are still ongoing. While overall it is a fun romp, there are a lot of things that stick out and might give you reason to pause. Let’s dive into them.
Firstly, it is actually a very well-done film. The cinematography and sweeping settings are enthralling and really add to the already phenomenal on-screen chemistry between Cathy (Margot Robbie) and Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi). The ‘moors’ are dangerous and rampant with wild thorns, and the Heights themselves are decrepit and derelict, which all juxtapose beautifully with the Linton’s ornate and lavish manor Thrushcross Grange. It feels very reminiscent of Fennell’s other works like Saltburn and Promising Young Woman, but it does verge on the cheap at times. One really gets the sense that these are sets, not really places that the characters actually inhabit.
Secondly, the cast is very strong. Whether it’s the aforementioned leads Elordi and Robbie, or the supporting cast of Alison Oliver (Isabella Linton), Ewan Mitchell (Joseph), Shazard Latif (Edgar Linton), Hong Chau (Nelly Dean) or Martin Clunes (Earnshaw) – they really do their best to work with Fennell’s vision. The lust between Heathcliff and Cathy is particularly palpable once they become adults. There are some deliciously visceral close ups with overtly sexual ASMR as Cathy’s yearning for her childhood confidant becomes apparent. But watchers will also be drawn in by the madness of Oliver’s Isabella as she morphs and twists from naive ward to depraved wife. Additionally, Chau’s Nelly is pitched perfectly – first the strong, trusted confidant but then slowly undermined as she is revealed for the unreliable moral anchor she truly is.
Thirdly, the pop-culture soundtrack really works. It highlights the dizzying highs of the all consuming love between Cathy and Heathcliff, but also curates the crashing rages and madnesses we see as well. Created by of all people, Charli XCX, it was just as hyped as the movie, but this time it really delivers. It’s elegantly brutal, and deliciously so.
However an element that is both a strength and a weakness is the overly creative costuming. While sometimes historical works with anachronistic clothing, or even just wildly non-period colours or shapes, are really effective (think of the tour de force that was 2006’s Marie Antoinette with Kirsten Dunst) but this one falls more on the side of tacky. As you watch it you can see what Fennell is aiming for – the shiny gauzy fabrics and the 80s inspired makeup seems to be almost a link to the Kate Bush of it all, but really it is just distracting.
It is important to note that Fennell has heavily claimed that this is a film ‘inspired’ by the original story. It’s nothing new – there have been many different iterations since it’s initial publishing in 1847, but this one feels like it has strayed a touch too far from the source material, and truly, has just kind of missed the point. It is not the first time that Fennell’s work has been accused of being ‘style over substance’, which has worked in the past, but maybe not this time. It’s missing the serious themes that the original work dealt with, assault, classism, racism and violence, which in our current day and age are not as taboo as they had been. By whitewashing the cast and painting sexual assault as kink, this film does a disservice to it’s audience. In short, it’s fun, it’s horny, but in reality nothing more than an empty manor.
5/10
