Wuthering Heights: A Gothic Love Story Lacking Substance

Planting the Seeds

Love breezes through the air as Yorkshire structures loom in the background. That can only mean one thing: a new romance film is hitting theaters just in time for Valentine’s Day! Wuthering Heights is based on Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel of the same name, which is one of the most celebrated works in all of literature. The book has received numerous adaptations throughout the years, ranging from television miniseries to song lyrics. But most frequently, the novel has been brought to the silver screen throughout numerous time periods, and is continually held in high regard to this day. 

Now, the classic story has returned to the world of film, this time with a more gothic retelling and a much bigger budget. Made for $80 million, the movie boasted potential, putting the romance at the focal point of the marketing and sporting a vast array of talent in its creative team. In fact, it is tracking to have a promising financial start, with a forecasted opening weekend total of around $40-50 million, the biggest of the year so far. However, the film has been hit with a mixed reception, with some critics praising it and others bashing it, throwing a wrench into its promising reputation.

Personally, I did not know what to expect going into this film, especially considering that I have not read the novel before. That, and I was not too impressed by the trailers, as I felt they were too stylistic and didn’t do much to gravitate me towards the story. However, I still had hope for the feature, largely because of the sheer amount of talent behind it – which can be highlighted in my sneak peek. Combined, these feelings of optimism and indifference created an overarching sense of curiosity, as I wondered how the story would be adapted, and if my skepticisms could potentially be exceeded. 

With an open mind, I attended a screening of the film at the local Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas Mansfield on Thursday, Feb. 12. As the credits began to roll, I was left with one question: did this movie prove my worries wrong and exceed my expectations, or did it turn my feelings of love to sourness?

Lover’s Lane

Set in the 18th century, Wuthering Heights focuses on a woman named Catherine Earnshaw, who resides in the Yorkshire Moors of England. Her life changes upon meeting a boy in her youth, Heathcliff, and the two grow close together. However, as time progresses, their relationship faces many hardships, especially as Earnshaw begins to live a more wealthy lifestyle. Ultimately, the two are forced to choose between their forbidden love and their personal lives, leading to a series of events which threatens to forever tarnish their connection and overall well-being.

Directed by Emerald Fennell – who also helmed Promising Young Woman and Saltburn – the film features an all-star cast including Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi, Hong Chau, Shazad Latif, and Owen Cooper among many others. 

I should start by prefacing that this movie is not without its merits. In fact, there are many aspects within it which I thoroughly enjoyed, particularly from a technical standpoint. Visually, this film is absolutely stunning to look at, with fantastic cinematography from Linus Sandgren. Not only does the film implement sweeping Yorkshire environments and more eccentric building interiors – especially in the second half – but it has great framing work as well. 

In just about every shot, the characters are typically right in the center of the screen, surrounded by a gorgeous backdrop – whether it be the rocky side of a mountain or a stone structure which provides shelter during a strom. It ultimately makes for some of the most sweeping camera work I’ve seen on the big screen in a while, and most certainly the strongest point of the film overall. 

Further accompanying the visual appeal are the costumes and production design, which are highly commendable in their combination of variety and beauty. The film features many eccentric costumes, especially seen through the many gowns and hairstyles donned by Earnshaw, which add a great pop to the screen, often serving as the primary focal point for the shots in question. 

On top of that, the movie features a number of impeccable sets, ranging from the darkened Wuthering Heights estate where Earnshaw lives, a fancier first-class mansion prominent throughout the second and third acts, and a variety of outdoor fields often covered by fog. These aspects give the film a unique sense of flair, ensuring the audience’s eyes are glued to the screen for the entire runtime. 

I’ll even say, I did enjoy the majority of the cast’s performances, as they provided depth to their characters through distinct personality traits. Notably, the two primary protagonists – Earnshaw and Heathcliff – are performed in very grounded ways, but have clear differences in their motivations and identity. 

While Robbie portrays Earnshaw in an upfront-but-worried fashion with a strong emotional core, Elordi provides a more stern and eager approach to Heathcliff, who is smitten by his love for his childhood friend. Not to mention, the supporting cast also perform their roles quite well, with Chau and Latif often voicing concern and reason as the protagonists fall into a self-destructive bond. 

There are many aspects of this film which work really well, providing a lot of promise in the final product. So it raises a key question regarding the rest of the movie: what went wrong?

A Conflicted Couple

Unfortunately, despite the many commendable aspects of the movie, I failed to get an enjoyable experience out of Wuthering Heights. This largely falls on my biggest gripe with the movie: the romance lacks any sort of real substance. Despite the efforts of Robbie and Elordi, the movie fails to build any sort of connection between the two, as most of their scenes together felt odd in execution. 

In fact, despite some early buildup to their relationship in the first act of the film, the majority of their romance blossoms in the second half under the most unexpected circumstances. I will not spoil what specifically happens, but I will say that the majority of their scenes often consist of arguments surrounding the impact on each other’s lives, before they suddenly form a close bond following a tragic event. The movie doesn’t really do much to build upon this relationship, as it expects viewers to just go along with their happenings despite the multitude of flaws surrounding both of their characters. 

Not to mention, I found Earnshaw and Heathcliff to both be highly unlikable, especially once their bond blossoms in the second half of the film. Not only do the two share a number of arguments, but many of their actions have a direct impact on those surrounding them, as they often commit unbelievable acts – especially Heathcliff – just to satisfy their desires. This is especially prominent in the third act, which sees Heathcliff partake in a shocking set of events which only makes his character look desperate at best and despicable at worst. As a result, I couldn’t bring myself to root for either of the two protagonists, nor was I able to care for their connection, taking one of the most important aspects of a romance film and absolutely squandering it. 

This also translates to the film’s story, which is structured in quite a weird way. The entire backbone is built on the supposed romance between Earnshaw and Heathcliff, but it does not approach this story in the way I thought it would from the trailers. Rather than make their relationship the central point of the entire movie, a fair share of the runtime is devoted primarily to the two yearning for each other, only to suddenly be inseparable come the second half. Due to the lack of chemistry between Robbie and Elordi, the story felt dull as it failed to get me to care for any of the onscreen events. 

As a result of this, the movie felt slow on multiple occasions, as many scenes meander on and on without any sort of real reason to. A key example is a montage around midway through the film, when the bond between Earnshaw and Heathcliff begins to bloom. Granted, I have not read the book this movie was based on, so I do not have much of a say in how accurate or inaccurate it is to the source material. But from the perspective of a casual moviegoer, this film felt more slow and tedious than it did heartfelt and romantic, with its writing issues negatively influencing its overall impact, as I was unable to find a reason to care for the characters, nor was I able to feel anything for them. 

Romantic Risks

Further not helping the movie’s story is its content, which is reliant on shock value for no real reason. From the moment the film began, I was left rolling my eyes, as its opening scene was one of a highly inconsistent tone. I could not tell what feeling the movie was trying to provoke in the beginning – whether it was shock, humor, or lack of comfort – which became needlessly more explicit as it progressed. It didn’t even have anything to do with the rest of the movie, as it was never referenced again at any other point, making the opening feel like shock value just for the sake of shock value, foreshadowing how rough this film was going to be to get through. 

This emphasis on explicit content was repeated throughout the rest of the runtime as well, which also leaves an impact on the story. Namely, rather than showcase any real development between Earnshaw and Heathcliff, the film instead utilized many scenes which felt needlessly erotic as a means of showing their connection. 

Furthermore, when Heathcliff decides to lean more into his sadistic side, it leads to the creation of a subplot which felt random and even a bit pointless, as it gave the movie another excuse to implement random shocking content. It got to the point where I was rolling my eyes and mumbling, “are you kidding me?” under my breath with every insertion of shock value, as it became repetitive and aggravating throughout the runtime. 

These factors also threw off the movie’s tone, as it could not figure out whether it wanted to be a love story or a psychological drama. The trailers promoted this film as a romantic tale, which put the bond between Earnshaw and Heathcliff at the forefront. However, due to its frequent implementation of graphic content and constantly feuding characters, the film instead felt more like a gothic period piece with a heavy emphasis on drama. 

I would not have a problem with this approach if the film balanced out its eroticism with actual substance, and gave me a reason to care about the onscreen events. But alas, the film instead subverted my expectations in the weakest way possible, resulting in a product which fails at handling its two primary genres.

Even the music feels random on many occasions. While the score by Anthony Willis does pair well with the numerous backdrops and provokes decent emotion, the movie also implements a soundtrack from popular musician Charli XCX, who is known for her work in pop music. She released an album devoted to this movie, and many of the songs are utilized in the background of certain scenes – typically montages. While the songs themselves are well-crafted and have a strong distinctiveness from one another, in the context of the movie, they felt tacked on in how they were implemented. 

Personally, I did not find the pop-heavy soundtrack to mesh well with the film’s 18th century setting or explicit content, with some tracks feeling like they were just added in for the sake of it. This resulted in some scenes feeling more like music videos than grounded sequences, and provided a further inconsistent feel to the tone as the two styles clashed. XCX’s soundtrack has merits as its own album, but as a companion piece to this movie, it felt more random than it did meaningful.

Coming Undone

Overall, despite its gorgeous cinematography, vibrant costumes, and the efforts of its cast, Wuthering Heights suffers from a dull story, unlikable characters, lack of chemistry, emphasis on shock value, and out-of-place soundtrack which heavily affect its overall quality. There is a lot of potential for a great movie here, but unfortunately, it puts more emphasis on its style over its substance, failing to give it a sense of enjoyability. 

If you’re a fan of the romance genre, Fennell’s previous films, or gothic period pieces, you might gravitate towards this movie more than I did. If you’re interested, Wuthering Heights is currently playing in theaters across the country, including locally at Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas Mansfield. But for me, this film just did not work in the way I hoped it would, leaving me quite disappointed with the final product.

I really hoped that this movie could provide an enjoyable time, but due to the overbearing nature of its faults, it ultimately left my heart more broken than fulfilled.

My Rating