The cinematic vision for Emerald Fennell's highly anticipated adaptation of Wuthering Heights has been unveiled with the release of the first full-length trailer. The film, which promises to be an epic and controversial reinterpretation of Emily Brontë's classic 1847 novel, is led by Hollywood stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi.
A Torturous Love Story Brought to Life
The new trailer sketches out what it boldly proclaims to be 'the greatest love story of all time'. It follows the star-crossed lovers, Catherine, played by Margot Robbie, and Heathcliff, portrayed by Jacob Elordi, from their first meeting as children to their intensely tangled and torturous love affair as adults on the West Yorkshire moors.
In a pivotal exchange, Robbie's Cathy asks Elordi's Heathcliff, 'What would you do, Heathcliff, if you were rich?' His reply foreshadows the drama to come: 'I suppose I'd do what all rich men do. Live in a big house, be cruel to my servants, take a wife.' Faithful to Brontë's only completed novel, the narrative sees Cathy marry the wealthy Edgar Linton, a role taken by Shazad Latif, to secure her social standing. This decision devastates Heathcliff, prompting him to flee and swear revenge.
Provocative Style and Early Controversy
The trailer is set to a powerful new track, 'Chains of Love' by Charli XCX, who is creating an entire album to accompany the film's release. Viewers are treated to scenes of passionate kissing and emotional turmoil, often in the rain, alongside glimpses of anachronistic fashions and Fennell's signature colourful visual flourishes.
However, the project has been mired in controversy from the start. The Oscar-winning director of Promising Young Woman, known for pushing boundaries, faced immediate scrutiny for her erotically charged take. The casting choices were publicly defended by casting director Kharmel Cochrane after some critics suggested Margot Robbie was too old for the role of a young maiden, while others questioned Jacob Elordi's suitability as Heathcliff, a character often perceived as having a Romany background and darker skin.
Reports from a test screening in August described mixed reactions, with one attendee labelling the film 'aggressively provocative and tonally abrasive', citing a particularly graphic scene involving a public hanging.
Fennell's Personal Defence
Emerald Fennell addressed the criticism head-on at the Brontë Women's Writing festival in September. She revealed that the novel 'cracked me open' when she first read it at 14 and that she has been 'driven mad by this book' ever since.
'I know that if somebody else made it, I'd be furious. It's very personal material for everyone,' Fennell stated. She defended her intense interpretation, asserting, 'There's an enormous amount of sado-masochism in this book. There's a reason people were deeply shocked by it.' She described adapting such cherished material as 'an act of extreme masochism'.
Wuthering Heights is scheduled for a cinematic release on Valentine's Day in 2026, positioning itself as the ultimate cinematic love story for the year.
