Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter

Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi gave electric performances of the beloved characters Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff.

Editor’s note: This review contains spoilers.

We had heard endless chatter about the new “Wuthering Heights” film before finally going to watch it: We heard that it was vulgar, heartbreaking, disingenuous and trite, among many other descriptions. Critics also said it is an unfaithful adaptation of Emily Bronte’s 1847 novel. 

 For their part, audiences have been drawn to it because of its two lead stars: Margot Robbie as the quick-witted Catherine Earnshaw and Jacob Elordi as the vengeful and brooding Heathcliff. 

When we, at last, settled in at the theater to see the film for ourselves, the chatter disappeared shockingly quickly as we were thrown head-first into the setting of the film. 

Director Emerald Fennell created a visually stunning atmosphere, with picturesque shots in beautiful fields and gardens. She cleverly played with light variation and contrasted beautiful nature with haunting landscapes, so the settings in this film alone make it worth watching. 

The visuals make you feel like you’re there in the Yorkshire moors in Northern England in the early 1800s, pushing through the mist and fog of the Earnshaw’s lonely estate, approaching a tall tree with the sun casting a white glow on the murky sky. 

Although the central genre of the film is romance, there are elements of horror throughout that enhance the bond between Cathy and Heathcliff, as their connection transcends a simple love and goes deeper into the poignant aspects of their story. Adding in a jump scare, sinister dolls and ominous music make the film feel more like a psychological thriller. 

While the Bronte novel is set in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Fennell modernized numerous aspects of the story. For example, Robbie is shown wearing a latex gown, which does not align with the era that the movie is based in. Similarly, where one would expect classical music in a period piece, the soundtrack is incredibly modern, with synth-y features from Charli XCX propelling the film forward. Highlights of the soundtrack include her songs “Chains of Love” and “House,” whose lyrical content parallels the plot of the film. 

We enjoyed the soundtrack as it provides a contrast between the 19th century setting and makes the film feel more relevant for a modern audience. 

While we didn’t read the book before watching the film, it is still important to mention that avid fans of the novel were unhappy with the casting choices of Elordi and Robbie. Many fans interpreted Heathcliff as a person of color from his description in the novel as “black-eyed,” “black-haired” and “dark-skinned.” The casting of Elordi, a white man, came as a disappointment to some. 

Even Catherine’s appearance was controversial, as she is described in the novel with long, curly brown hair and dark eyes. Robbie, with her blonde hair and blue eyes, didn’t seem like the same characters that many readers knew so well. 

Despite gripes with the appearance of the characters, the casting for young Catherine (Charlotte Mellington) and young Heathcliff (Owen Cooper) blew us away. They were the highlight of the film for us, delivering tender, emotional moments heightened with the innocence of youth. 

While older Cathy and Heathcliff often fight and miscommunicate, their younger counterparts clearly shared a close bond; the performances by Mellington and Cooper set the precedent for the strong feelings Cathy and Heathcliff experience later in adulthood. 

When Cathy chooses to marry Linton and Heathcliff subsequently runs away, we see the death of the youth of her character that we’ve known since her childhood. The sharpness of Cathy that we see in her relationship with Heathcliff is lost in her marital connection with Linton. Her often-obnoxious confidence, which Heathcliff fell in love with, disappeared with his own departure from Wuthering Heights. Robbie portrays the shift in Cathy’s demeanor masterfully, as we can see the loss of her “spark” through her facial expressions. 

The movie has many aspects that are well worth analyzing, like its symbolism and imagery. 

For example, the walls of Cathy’s bedroom in the Linton estate are meant to look like her skin, with her freckles and veins being visible on the peach-colored wall. While Linton presents this as a romantic gesture, it’s evident that it is meant to show that he sees her only at face-value, literally. When Cathy dies, her blood rushes from her body onto the floor and walls, illustrating that she’s become one with the room. 

Although many fans disliked this film for its discrepancies with the novel itself, we thought that it did exactly what the director set out to do. Fennell didn’t want to make a completely accurate rendition of Bronte’s masterpiece — she wanted to create her own. 

Rating: 4 out of 5 Falcons