Emerald Fennell’s latest film is dividing critics just days before its Valentine’s Day release.
‘Wuthering Heights’ (stylized with quotation marks) stars Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff in a radical reimagining of Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel. The film premiered at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on January 28, 2026 and hits theaters February 13, 2026 with Warner Bros. Pictures projecting $50-55 million in its four-day opening weekend.
The New York Times writes that Robbie and Elordi “hold your attention well enough, though they’re more persuasive apart than when they’re together”. The New Yorker goes further, calling it “an extravagantly superficial take on Emily Brontë’s novel” with “paper-doll Catherine and Heathcliff”.
Fast Facts:
- Director: Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman, Saltburn)
- Release Date: February 13, 2026 (Valentine’s Day eve)
- Budget Deal: Warner Bros. paid $80 million for rights
- Opening Weekend Projection: $50-55 million
- Theater Count: 3,600 theaters, including IMAX
- Supporting Cast: Hong Chau, Shazad Latif, Alison Oliver
RNZ calls the film “an absolute mess,” noting that “Elordi’s performance is three-quarters in his scowl, to the point that rare moments he whips out a smile feel rewarding”. Mashable observes that while the film features “opulent settings, luxurious attire, forbidden attraction,” the stars’ chemistry “resembles that of plastic dolls colliding”.
Fennell streamlined the sprawling novel by severing storylines and discarding numerous characters to focus solely on the Catherine-Heathcliff romance. The director includes explicit montages of intimate scenes “spanning from beds to carriages to the expansive moors,” a departure from traditional adaptations.
Why It Matters
This marks Fennell’s third feature after Oscar-winning ‘Promising Young Woman’ and the controversial ‘Saltburn’. Warner Bros. beat Netflix’s $150 million bid with a lower $80 million offer by guaranteeing theatrical release and a major marketing campaign. The mixed reception comes after months of casting backlash, with fans criticizing Robbie as “too mature” for Catherine and Elordi as “too Caucasian” for Heathcliff, a character typically interpreted as a person of color. Despite defending her co-star as “our generation’s Daniel Day-Lewis,” Robbie couldn’t escape the chemistry issues critics are now highlighting.
Jordan Blake is a rogue film critic and former VFX compositor with over 15 years of industry experience. Tired of paid reviews and “safe” opinions, Jordan left the studio system to tell the audience what Hollywood won’t. He specializes in forensic frame-by-frame analysis, exposing bad CGI, and decoding hidden lore that others miss.
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