Doom and darkness fill the lands of northern England, where the Yorkshire moors tremble beneath a wuthering sky. In a late 18th century desolate world, the abominable Catherine Earnshaw and the vengeful Heathcliff portray how twisted love just may be a destructive force. Based on the only novel written by Emily Brontë, “Wuthering Heights” is a Gothic classic that defies traditional Victorian norms.
From the director of “Saltburn,” Emerald Fennell’s 2026 adaptation starring Margot Robbie as Catherine and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff creates a strong narrative tying Gothic angst with 20th century surrealism. The visual experience of “Wuthering Heights” is one like no other.
The film portrays the scenery in an uncanny fashion, making audiences feel as if they were in a fever dream. The high gloss finish in the scenes, especially Edgar Linton’s estate Thrushacross Grange, adds an uncomfortable depth to the superficial relationship between Edgar and Catherine. The architecture of the Thrushacross Grange is surreal in itself: Catherine’s skin-like bedroom walls, the red glossy floors, and the scarily accurate dollhouse.
Wuthering Heights is the old, ruined farmhouse that Catherine and Heathcliff grow up in. The house’s harsh, rugged atmosphere reflects the powerful influence it has on the development of each character throughout the film. Mr. Earnshaw, patriarch of the estate, instills a sense of fear in his household. The complexity of his character being simultaneously neglectful and caring creates a weird dynamic among the household members.
Young Catherine (Charlotte Wellington) and Heathcliff (Owen Cooper) give stand-out performances. Catherine represented a symbol of hope and restoration of generational trauma. Heathcliff is taken into Wuthering Heights as an orphan boy, treated like an outsider since the beginning. The young versions of these characters build a loyal connection from the start. Catherine even says in the film, “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same…”. Their relationship is one deeply rooted in nature, reflecting the moors: hilly and untamed. Catherine and Heathcliff find freedom in each other. But that restrained freedom is what brings grown-up Catherine and Heathcliff’s relationship to despair.
Catherine becomes a tragic heroine. Her once free-spirited outlook on the world becomes tainted by her desire for social status, a prevalent theme throughout the film. Catherine’s emotional intensity leads to her self-destruction. After years of mistreatment, even by Catherine, Heathcliff becomes the anti-hero when he returns to Wuthering Heights after leaving for years. His destructive nature, unresolved problems, and emotionally passionate infatuation with Catherine leads to their toxic love.
Communication couldn’t even help their relationship. The film was a web of characters settling for the means they had. Catherine and Heathcliff were trauma-bonded from the start. Their relationship is complex and messy. Heathcliff even tells Catherine after she wrongfully marries Edgar, “I have not broken your heart– you have broken it; and in breaking it, you have broken mine.” Heathcliff eventually marries Isabella, Edgar’s ward, treating her disgustingly and animal-like. Through the main characters’ actions, “Wuthering Heights” becomes a tragedy.
The contemporary musical score by Charli XCX gave the film a “pop techno” vibe, adding to the “camp” aesthetic. “Chains of Love” is symbolic of Catherine and Heathcliff’s relationship. The shackles represent entrapment rather than security. The folk ballad “Dark Eyed Sailor” by Olivia Chaney being placed in the film when Catherine accepts Edgar’s proposal and again when Heathcliff returns. This mirror instills an eerie feeling to audiences.
There are interpretive connections present between “Wuthering Heights” and other works of cinema. Both “Wuthering Heights” and “Beauty and the Beast” explore the “beastly” male protagonist archetype, who is transformed by love from a strong-willed woman. “Wuthering Heights” and “Beauty and the Beast” are both set in dark, large estates, however, “Wuthering Heights” displays love as tragedy while “Beauty and the Beast” portrays love as redemptive.
From the eggs in “Wuthering Heights” to the East and West Egg of “The Great Gatsby,” love is idealized. Heathcliff and Gatsby build their entire lives around the woman they fantasize about. Similarly to Daisy Buchanan, Catherine is flawed and fits the “damsel in distress” archetype by the end of the film. Social status and the ideology of “seamlessly going back into the past” ruins both relationships.
Challenged by class divisions and letters unopened, “Wuthering Heights” follows the sentiment of longing in “The Notebook”. In “Wuthering Heights,” Nellie, Catherine’s longtime servant, throws Heathcliff’s letters, written by Isabella, into the fire. In “The Notebook,” Allie’s mother withholds Noah’s letters for many years. Both films focus on the concept that love transcends time and place.
“Wuthering Heights” has close ties to William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” and “Hamlet”. Just like Romeo and Juliet’s forbidden love story and tragic ending, Catherine and Heathcliff’s relationship represents just that. “Hamlet” is a film filled with past trauma, supernatural elements, and characters ruining each other’s lives. Similarly, “Wuthering Heights” displays how trauma can affect someone throughout their lives.
“Wuthering Heights” is not a love story. All-consuming love leads Catherine and Heathcliff to be selfish and cruel to those around them. The film was unfiltered, twisted, dimensional, passionate and beautiful. Through the fog and through the hills, travel to your local AMC or Regal movie theater to see “Wuthering Heights” today.
