Wuthering Heights Review: Margot Robbie’s New Film Is Suffocated by Gritty, Excessive Melodrama
Release Date: February 13, 2026
Director/Writer: Emerald Fennell
Cast: Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi, Hong Chau, Shazad Latif, Alison Oliver, Martin Clunes
Rating: R (Sexual content, violence, language)
Runtime: 136 minutes
Approaching this as a viewer unfamiliar with Emily Brontë’s literary foundations, I cannot speak to its fidelity as an adaptation. However, judging it strictly as Fennell’s third directorial effort, I feel suspended in the middle. The film is undeniably provocative, attempting to find sensuality in the grotesque—from the textures of unmade beds to the desolate beauty of the English Moors. It often feels like a fever dream where the gothic whimsy of Tim Burton meets the polished opulence of Bridgerton. It is a humid, heavy-handed production, but it ultimately suffers from a “style over substance” deficit that prevents it from achieving true greatness.
A Study in Toxic Codependency Rather Than Romance
The narrative begins with a deceptive sense of innocence. Catherine Earnshaw’s father (Martin Clunes) brings home a vagrant boy to serve as her companion—a “pet” of sorts. Catherine christens him Heathcliff, and the two become an inseparable unit. As they reach adulthood, a palpable, almost suffocating yearning develops between them in the isolation of their rural estate. Yet, true intimacy remains elusive.
Faced with her family’s financial ruin due to her father’s gambling, Catherine suppresses her desires. She sets her sights on the affluent Edgar Linton (Shazad Latif), treating marriage as a transaction for stability while continuing to exchange smoldering glances with Heathcliff under her own roof. This pragmatism backfires; by the time Catherine is ready to acknowledge her true feelings, a devastated Heathcliff has vanished. What follows is a relentless cycle of lust and vengeance. It’s a tale fueled by catastrophic miscommunication and obsessive behavior.
While the film features electrifying performances and sumptuous costuming, the core relationship feels more like a shared psychosis than a romance. These are two individuals who use each other as crutches for their own misery. Do not let the Valentine’s Day release fool you—this is not a lighthearted date movie; it is a grueling exploration of toxic attachment.
An Oscillating Tone: From Dark Satire to Gothic Dread
Fennell seems intent on subverting expectations through shock value. The film is saturated with gothic eroticism, yet it frequently pivots into unexpected territory. Certain sequences echo the deadpan, surreal humor of a Yorgos Lanthimos film, while others lean heavily into a horror aesthetic that feels slightly disconnected from the rest of the piece. Catherine and Heathcliff behave with the volatile impulsivity of teenagers, oscillating between tenderness and brutality with very little narrative connective tissue to explain their shifts beyond their own mutual obsession.
Related articles
“Khrustalyov, My Car!” Star Yuri Tsurilo Dies
Shortlist of candidates for the new James Bond revealed
‘It’ star Tim Curry has died
“Fall 2” to be released in Russia
Critics Dislike Ridley Scott’s ‘Canopus’
“Spider-Man: A New Day” Becomes the Second Highest-Grossing Film at the US Box Office
The actor for the new RoboCop has been revealed
Dolly Parton has died