At the Sydney premiere of Wuthering Heights, Margot Robbie stepped on stage and encouraged the audience to make some noise, cautioning the crowd that this was not a film designed to be watched in silence.

And with that one sentence, the film’s leading lady and producer summed up exactly what to expect from Emerald Fennell’s polarising new movie and the only way to really enjoy it.

Keeping up with the rollout for this new version of Wuthering Heights has been like watching waves of controversy endlessly crash against a beach of expectation and anticipation. There has been much hand-wringing and pearl-clutching about every aspect of this film since it was announced, from the casting to the historical inaccuracies and the chapters of the original novel that were not included in the 2026 script in order to focus solely on one storyline from the novel.

You see, this version of Wuthering Heights is not just a movie; it’s more of a spectacle and therefore needs to be viewed as such in order to truly immerse yourself in the captivating world that Fennel has created.

Touching Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, which was published in 1847 under her pen name ‘Ellis Bell’, is not an act for the faint of heart. Generations of readers have proclaimed it their favourite book, countless students have studied it, it has influenced all forms of literature, and infiltrated the world of pop culture in a way that sees it pop up in everything from Kate Bush songs to Sex and the City episodes and even The Baby-Sitters Club book series.

If you’re a Wuthering Heights purist, then there’s a high chance you won’t enjoy Oscar-winner Fennell’s take on the classic tale.

Her film is less of an adaptation and more a piece of lavish fan fiction gone wild. Exactly the sort of tale a young reader first being introduced to the torturous love story of Catherine and Heathcliff would concoct in their mind. Stripping away some of the nuances from the novel and deleting side characters whose storylines veer more serious and sexy in order to focus solely on the height of Cathy and Heathcliff’s compelling yet emotionally abusive relationship.

Fennell’s movie might not be the popular literary choice, but it was the correct one to make.

If you are yearning for a more traditional adaptation of Wuthering Heights, then you already have more than 30 options to choose from. From smaller TV films to big-budget adaptations starring a slew of Oscar winners, this classic tale of two seemingly doomed landowning families living on the gloomy West Yorkshire moors has been told traditionally over and over again.

At this moment in time, a traditional book honouring take from Fennell would have barely registered as a blip in the history of Wuthering Heights. Instead she has created an audience-friendly spectacle that will still appeal to any soul yet to know the significance of the name Brontë.

A viewing experience that causes the audience to shriek, laugh, and swoon at the screen, and, much like movie-goers delighted in dressing up in pink to view Barbie, it’s a sure-fire bet that Instagram feeds will be filled with women cosplaying as Cathy as the movie rolls out this Valentine’s Day weekend.

It’s classic literature meets consumerism.

This new Wuthering Heights follows many of the main story beats from the original novel.

Set in late 18th and early 19th Century England, a young girl named Catherine Earnshaw lives with her abusive father and young companion, Nelly Dean. One night, her father returns to his crumbling estate of Wuthering Heights on the Yorkshire Moors with a filthy and silent young boy he has rescued from the streets.

Cathy names him ‘Heathcliff’, treating him as both a brother and a pet, and over the years, the two form a strong but wildly complicated bond. When we flash forward to them as adults, Cathy (Margot Robbie) and Heathcliff (Jacob Elordie) are entwined in each other’s lives as almost siblings, but with a wild streak of sexual tension simmering between them that frankly should make everyone else forced to live in that dilapidated house feel mildly uncomfortable.

When Cathy discovers that a wealthy textile merchant named Edgar Linton (Shazad Latifa) and his ward Isabella (Alison Oliver) have moved into a neighbouring estate, she becomes obsessed with meeting them. Conveniently injuring herself just outside their walls, Cathy stays with the family until she heals, which is just the right amount of time for Linton to fall in love with her and propose marriage.

Due to his love (and toxic co-dependency) for her, the news of Cathy’s engagement drives Heathcliff away, leaving Cathy to live a lavish yet isolated life with the Lintons until years later, when Heathcliff reappears, well-groomed and mysteriously wealthy.

Reunited, there is not an inch of the moors, a single carriage, or a falling apart former childhood bedroom that is safe from the secret sexual escapades of Cathy and Heathcliff as they hook up to a degree that might make even the most dedicated of romantic fan fiction writers quietly remove their hands from the keyboard. Pondering if maybe they should rein it in just a little and attempt to cram in a bit more of the nuances and commentary from the original story.

But this is a Wuthering Heights that knows exactly how its bread will be buttered, and after promising the world a sexually charged take on this literary darling starring two of Hollywood’s most compelling and headline-making stars, Fennell is hell-bent on bringing the most visceral aspects of Cathy and Heathcliff’s craving for each other to life. Even inventing an opening scene for the film that strays far from the book, involving a public execution and an erection, as a way to really smack the crowd over the head with the idea that this film won’t feel like your year 10 English class.

It’s an interesting choice that cements the unique artistic vision around this film, and thankfully, Robbie and Elordie’s chemistry on screen is strong enough to drive the film through its well-practiced twists and turns.

Yet since it was clearly Fennell’s intention to take the most sensual and savage parts of Cathy and Heathcliff’s brutal love story and blast them across the big screen in a way we have never seen before, it almost feels like she could have leaned deeper into these sex scenes and sexual innuendos if the goal all along was to shock us with where her imagination could take this well-told tale.

Every sex scene in this film hits the mark, but it does make me dream of what a truly uncensored Emerald Fennell fever dream would look like on screen.

As Heathcliff, Jacob Elordie is suitably smouldering even though his height, face card, and naturally deep voice are doing a lot of the heavy lifting here when it comes to creating this character.

Although it’s hard to ignore the fact that we are aware of his tortured inner workings because the movie blatantly slaps you across the face with it, rather than relying on an actor who is able to show it through their eyes and actions.

On a different, yet more important storytelling front, it’s also impossible to ignore the whitewashing of Heathcliff’s character as you watch this film. In the book, there are many explicit descriptions of Heathcliff as being ‘dark-skinned’ and this aspect of his character folds into how he is treated by society in the novel. It’s a fact that has been ignored time and time again in the many film adaptations of the book, and I can’t help but think that what would have felt truly subversive in 2026 is to honour that part of the story.

When it comes to Margot Robbie as Cathy, I know much will be said about her character masturbating on the moors, making a carriage shake with Heathcliff or even how extraordinary she looks in the lavish costumes while moving against sets that look like works of true art.

But her portrayal of this literary heroine is much more complex than how she looks or moves in sex scenes designed to shock.

With her performance, Robbie layers her Cathy with a careful cruelty and spite, allowing her to be completely unlikable when the story calls for it. At the same time, she knows exactly when to quietly switch gears and lean into Cathy’s fragility and childlike innocence, showing a true understanding of the character, allowing every decision Cathy makes to look completely believable and draw you even deeper into her story.

Overall, this new take on Wuthering Heights is immersive and addictive viewing, visually stunning, and created for the sole purpose of granting you a few hours of wild escapism with an audience that should refuse to stay quiet.

Wuthering Heights is in cinemas now, it is rated M.