- Primary Subject: Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights film adaptation
- Key Update: Initial critical reviews for the film starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi have debuted with a polarizing reception.
- Status: Confirmed
- Last Verified: February 10, 2026
- Quick Answer: Critics are divided over Emerald Fennell’s adaptation, praising its visual and lead chemistry while debating whether its subversive, "carnal" tone honors or hollows the novel.
The critic reviews for Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights have finally arrived online, and the reception so far has been polarizing. Here's why they're divided over the new adaptation.
The film has been highly anticipated by audiences not only because of the involvement of Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, but also for its seemingly subversive and sexier take on the classic Emily Brontë novel. It is being released just in time for Valentine's Day and is expected to become a box office hit.
Why Critics Are Divided Over the New Wuthering Heights Movie
As of this writing, Fennell's Wuthering Heights has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 70% based on the 71 reviews that were gathered so far. While the number suggests a mostly positive reception, many critics were mixed about the film overall.
Praises were made towards its cinematography, production design, Charli XCX's soundtrack, and the performances and chemistry of its lead stars, Margot Robbie and Elordi.
However, there were also criticisms or mixed reactions towards Fennell's subversive take on the Brontë novel, as some saw it as a shallow adaptation or disrespectful to the original intent of the source material.
David Sims of The Atlantic called Fennell's adaptation "her best film to date -- a heaving, rip-snortingly carnal good time at the cinema. It is also a gooey, grimy mess."
Meanwhile, Peter Debruge of Variety, who is a fan of the classic novel, wrote in his review that "Fennell seizes on something passionate in the material that was always there but never made explicit, amplifying what has gone largely unrequited all these years."
Among the detractors of the film is Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian, who said, "it looks like a luxurious pose of unserious abandon. It’s quasi-erotic, pseudo-romantic, and then ersatz-sad, a club night of mock emotion."
Kristy Puchko of Mashable also expressed disapproval, writing that the film "feels like a passionate but incoherent collage of teenage lust and rebellion, the kind better suited to a high school locker than a movie theater."
It would be interesting to see how the audiences will respond to the film once it releases in theaters, especially those who are fans of the novel, since critics have warned that they will have a divisive reaction to Fennell's adaptation.
What to Expect in Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights
Based on the classic Emily Brontë novel, Wuthering Heights follows a passionate and tumultuous love story set against the backdrop of the Yorkshire moors, exploring the intense and destructive relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw.
Aside from Robbie (who is also producing) and Elordi, the cast includes Hong Chau, Shazad Latif, Alison Oliver, Martin Clunes, and Ewan Mitchell. Fennell wrote and directed the film.
It is set to arrive in theaters this February 13, just in time for Valentine's Day. The novel has been adapted into films and TV shows many times throughout the past century, most notably the 1992 version starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche.
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