{"id":32969,"date":"2026-02-12T02:20:46","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T10:20:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=32969"},"modified":"2026-02-12T02:20:46","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T10:20:46","slug":"wuthering-heights-abandons-its-source-material-for-over-the-top-silliness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=32969","title":{"rendered":"WUTHERING HEIGHTS Abandons Its Source Material for Over-the-Top Silliness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Running Time: 136 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This feature from Warner Bros. Pictures opens exclusively\nat theaters on February 13th<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Emily Bronte novel Wuthering Heights<\/em> is a\nclassic, but it\u2019s hard to think of a notable film adaptation of the property.\nAdmittedly, there have been several attempts, but the story\u2019s dark edges and\ngloomy tone have made it a difficult one to sell to audiences. The latest\nattempt is from writer\/director Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman,\nSaltburn<\/em>). It\u2019s very clear that no expense has been spared to give this\nperiod film a grand scope, but the end product still struggles to keep viewers\ninvested in the fates of its lead characters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This story follows a family living on a dilapidated estate\non the coast of northern England. The head of the household, Mr. Earnshaw\n(Martin Clunes) is a drunk and an abusive father, but does take in an orphan,\njokingly giving the boy to his daughter and telling her to keep him as a \u201cpet\u201d.\nOver the years a bond forms between the pair, and as adults it becomes clear\nthat Catherine Earnshaw (Margot Robbie) and Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi) share an\nunrequited passion for each other. When the kind and wealthy lord of a\nneighboring property named Edgar Linton (Shazad Latif) takes an interest in\nCatherine, it\u2019s seen as a life-saving pairing for the woman (who is described\nby family members as a spinster). Their marriage infuriates Heathcliff, who\nfirst disappears and then arrives years later to try and cause disaster to the\nrelationship. Catherine doesn\u2019t help herself, obsessing over Heathcliff and\nsabotaging her own upward mobility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The relationship between Catherine and Heathcliff is clearly\ntoxic, harming themselves and those around them. They just can\u2019t stay away from\neach other, eventually using others to play sadistic and masochistic games on\neach other. Only Catherine\u2019s caregiver, Nelly Dean (Hong Chau) seems to\nunderstand this issue, but even she can\u2019t keep the pair from committing\nhorrible and self-destructive acts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is an odd but interesting story arc, and one can see a\nfascinating movie in which characters attempt subtle, devious acts to try to\nmanipulate others for their wants and desires. However, everything in the film\nis cranked up to extremes well past the level of believability. This is a\nmelodrama where there are a lot of raised voices and shouting. Most props\nplaced within arm\u2019s reach are grasped and hurled in angst and fury. You\u2019ll also\nsee characters repeatedly glowering in the pouring rain without cover.\nDisplaying this once or twice is perfectly fine, but when the actions occur\nagain and again, it starts to result in snickers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The movie is also focused on the sexual kinks of its period\ncharacters. Again, while it\u2019s okay to address the matter on the part of a few\nindividuals, all but one of the central roles in this story end up taking part\nin some sort of bondage or domination act. Again, it\u2019s all so over-the-top that\nit ends up coming off as amusing, but the exaggerations don\u2019t help the picture\nwhen it attempts to veer back and address the core drama and tragedy of the\ncentral relationship. It is clear by the climax that the film wants viewers to\nbe very invested in the fate of the leads, their problematic childhoods and the\nnegative effect it has had on their lives. But when the material is played in a\ngrandiose fashion with so much artifice, no viewer will be moved by the resolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There are a few things that do work. This picture is\nbeautiful to look at, with impressive production design and costuming\nthroughout. The Earnshaw estate, which is almost built right into the side of a\ncliff, is striking. So much so that one thinks with a more concerted effort to\nkeep it clean and in order, it might actually be a gorgeous place to live. The\nLinton estate is brighter and grander, with some outrageous design ideas, but\nat least the motifs and details (many involving hands) are interesting to\nobserve. And there are a few amusing sounds, looks and comments that are\nintended to raise a smile and succeed in doing so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, this is a unique take on the source material\nabout deeply unhealthy relationships. The cast also do their best in difficult\nroles. Unfortunately, it\u2019s played in such a hyperbolic manner that the film\nnever fully transports the viewer into its world or makes one feel any\ninvestment in the lives of its characters. Any human drama in this adaptation\nof Wuthering Heights<\/em> leaves viewers unmoved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running Time: 136 minutes This feature from Warner Bros. Pictures opens exclusively at theaters on February 13th. The Emily Bronte novel Wuthering Heights is a classic, but it\u2019s hard to think of a notable film adaptation of the property. Admittedly, there have been several attempts, but the story\u2019s dark edges and gloomy tone have made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":32976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[217,3295,6251,6917,10147,13194,13672,15922,17310,23989,24527,24528,24529,24530],"class_list":["post-32969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-217","tag-book-adaptation","tag-drama","tag-emily-bronte","tag-jacob-elordi","tag-margot-robbie","tag-melodrama","tag-period","tag-romance","tag-warner-bros","tag-wuthering-heights","tag-wuthering-heights-film-review","tag-wuthering-heights-movie-review","tag-wuthering-heights-review"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32969\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}