Wuthering Heights is a classic 19th century British novel by Emily Brontë. I had vaguely heard of it, but it’s definitely a story written more with a female audience in mind. My wife read the book in high school and automatically signed us up for tickets on Valentine’s Day. I was a little surprised I hadn’t heard about this movie until she bought the tickets, especially considering that Margot Robbie is starring. She’s one of the biggest Hollywood starlets right now. It’s directed by Emerald Fennell, whom I’m not very familiar with.
The movie centers on Catherine Earnshaw. Apparently, her family were the original tenants of Wuthering Heights, making them something of a pseudo noble family without the titles in England. But Cathy’s father had gambled and drunk away the family fortune year by year. When she was young, she was excited after her father drunkenly brought home a (temporarily) mute ward named Heathcliff, whom Cathy treated more like a personal pet than an adopted brother.
The film doesn’t spend much time on them as children. Soon Margot Robbie is playing Cathy as a grown woman. By this point, her father is a complete mess, and despite owning land and property, they seem to live mostly in poverty. She remains close with Heathcliff, almost like pseudo family. The two have always had a very strange and clearly toxic relationship. Cathy lacks the maturity to process getting married (in an attempt at hypergamy) while also figuring out how Heathcliff fits into her life.
Heathcliff likewise hasn’t prepared for a life without her. He’s not her brother by blood, so it’s unlikely any husband she marries would accept him living in their household. The two of them really needed a psychiatrist.
Sure enough, Cathy gets what she thinks she wants: a rich husband, a grand estate, and just about everything a woman could desire except true, genuine love. Her husband does seem to care for her, though it may be more for her beauty than her personality.
Things change when a handsome, wealthy man shows up at her estate. It turns out to be Heathcliff, who had run off for several years. She thought he was a ghost of the past, maybe even dead, and never expected to see him again. His return changes everything.
From this point on, I’ll be spoiling major parts of the movie. The film has been heavily criticized for being loosely based on the novel, so even if you’ve read the book, there may still be surprises. You’ve been warned.
Probably the best thing about the film is the way it looks. The beautiful outdoor scenery of the Yorkshire moors in England feels like a completely different world to us Americans. The interior shots, especially outside of Wuthering Heights, look fit for royalty. The screenshots I have don’t do it justice. On the big screen, it looks utterly fantastic.
That said, I did have problems with the overall story, even though I haven’t read the book and only have a vague idea of the changes. Heathcliff and Cathy are just flawed, awful people. They’re almost like children mentally. They aren’t innocent either. They can be absolutely horrible to each other and to others, committing strange acts including martial cruelty and infidelity. Pretty early into the movie, I realized this wasn’t going to be a good time for anyone involved. It’s a bit too depressing for my taste.
That being said, I think it’s a decent movie, even though I’m sure Emily Brontë would be banging on her casket over all of the changes. It’s well produced, acted, and directed, but the decision to adapt only about half the book and significantly alter the ending has been controversial. Still, I imagine that if you’re not a book purist, you may really enjoy it especially if you’re a woman. My wife certainly did more than I did. The audience at the theater was mostly couples, though a large portion seemed to be single women and groups of female friends.