Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi star as Cathy and Heathcliff in a frenetic adaptation of Wuthering Heights that doesn’t adhere to Emily Bronte’s novel.
Trailer for Wuthering Heights starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi
Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi are embroiled in a bad romance in this bold new adaptation of Emily Bronte’s classic novel Wuthering Heights.
- Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi play destined lovers Cathy and Heathcliff in the new film Wuthering Heights (released Friday, February 13th).
- Filmmaker Emerald Fennell takes liberties with Emily Bronte’s 1847 novel.
- The 2026 movie’s soundtrack is packed with original songs by Charli XCX.
Emerald Fennell’s take on the literary classic “Wuthering Heights” isn’t exactly a Valentine’s Day cheer. But when viewed with all sorts of toxic obsessions, forbidden desires, and gothic sass, it’s deeply surprising.
Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi are friends, lovers and adversaries in a fierce rivalry in the gorgeous and raucous “In the Heights” (★★★ 1/2 out of 4, rated R, in theaters February 13th). Fennell’s adaptation takes some liberties with Emily Bronte’s 1847 Victorian original novel, but unless you’re a die-hard fan, you probably won’t be too upset. The Oscar-winning British filmmaker has crafted a sumptuous bad romance that’s supremely arrogant, darkly hilarious, and ultimately heartfelt.
After an opening in which the crowd inexplicably heats up and is bothered by a hanging (an auspicious choice to begin a tragic love story), alcoholic farmer Mr. Earnshaw (Martin Clunes) takes home a street urchin (Owen Cooper) as part of his “charity.” He tells his young, selfish daughter Cathy (Charlotte Mellington) that the boy can be her “pet.”
She names the child Heathcliff, and the two children become very close, although Cathy’s servants, including her best friend Nelly (Vi Nguyen), are reluctant to take care of another child. Cathy even says to Heathcliff one night, “I will never leave you.”
Years later, their hometown of Wuthering Heights is devastated when Mr. Earnshaw runs out of money gambling. Cathy (Robbie) and Heathcliff (Elordi) enjoy a friendship filled with tricks and jokes, and although they love to annoy each other, Heathcliff develops strong feelings for his friend.
Kathy is also a woman who feels pressure to get married, and her ideal is to marry a man with money. When wealthy velvet tycoon Edgar Linton (Shazad Latif) moves in next door to the luxurious Thrushcross Grange, Cathy awkwardly introduces herself, Edgar is smitten, and his young protege Isabella (Alison Oliver) is delighted to have a new girlfriend.
Heathcliff is not too happy and is furious when Cathy and Edgar become engaged, but he returns five years later and is now wealthy and ready to cause chaos. Cathy has always admired Heathcliff, and the two begin a secret relationship that develops into a brutal battle.
Fennell’s Wuthering Heights is a wonderful sensory overload with ostentatious costumes and production design, and interestingly leans into the thoroughly bizarre The Wealthy. (Edgar installed walls in Cassie’s bedroom made to resemble her skin, complete with veins and moles.) The film also includes many original songs by Charli XCX, creating a much better soundtrack than the singer’s own lackluster mockumentary.
But it’s the director’s filmmaking that is surprising, showing new depths for the woman who made the delicious “Promising Young Woman” and the whimsical “Saltburn.” She uses England’s misty moors and impending thunderstorms to symbolize the brooding, electric couple and their complex emotions. And Fennell creates visual callbacks that hauntingly reflect Cathy and Heathcliff’s childhoods in adulthood, a nod to their rapid growth but also the kind of raw, solid bond that only children can have.
Fennell’s focus on Bronte’s favorite books is bound to lead to discussion of Heathcliff’s mysterious ethnicity (he is described in the novel as a “dark-skinned gypsy”) and his and Cathy’s development from their teenage years. But when it comes to oozing love, hate, and everything in between, there’s no arguing with Robbie and Elordi’s chemistry.
Cathy can be selfish and infuriating, and Heathcliff can be aloof and mean, but they are by no means unlikable. And while their steamy, sweaty dalliances are hot and heavy (albeit mostly clothed), it’s the little moments, like when Heathcliff gently cups Cathy’s hand to keep the rain out of her eyes, that are most swooning.
Hong Chau is perfect as Nelly, the quietly exasperated type of adult who causes further friction in Cathy and Heathcliff’s heated situation. Latif gives Edgar an innate goodness that not only makes him a foil to Heathcliff, but also makes him a better man for Cathy. Cooper, who won an Emmy for “Adolescence,” is just as important to the character’s story as Elordi. But the only supporting character you might get hooked on is Oliver, who is captivatingly eccentric as a sexually repressed innocent who gets caught up in Heathcliff’s revenge quest.
Fennell uses her talent and bombast to reach such great heights that this feels like the first must-see film of 2026. This is a captivating retelling of the greatest love story of all time through an accessible modern lens.
