*This article contains spoilers regarding the film Wuthering Heights (2026).*
First things first — yes, I went to see Wuthering Heights without reading the book first. I deeply apologize to the fans of the book, and it is now on my TBR. Even though I didn’t crack the book open before watching this Victorian tragedy, I still loved the 132-minute runtime.
I could talk about this for days if someone let me.
I’m going to start with my favorite aspect of the film, the cinematography. The director is Emerald Fennell. If you don’t recognize the name, she also directed Saltburn, Promising Young Woman, and The Crown.
Fennell’s cinematography is unique to the films she directs, and Wuthering Heights is no different. The aspect I loved the most was that the cuts between scenes were intently sharp. It kept me on my toes; I didn’t know what was coming next.
The transition scene from Catherine Earnshaw (Margot Robbie) and Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi) in their adolescence to the adult counterparts was probably my favorite. To sum it up, the transition starts where adolescent Catherine is checking on adolescent Heathcliff after he endured lashes to his back after defending Catherine.
His back is bloodied, and the cuts are deep. Then the shot quickly changes to the same cuts scarred over on a more mature back. This flips back and forth a couple of times and ends with the adult Heathcliff being woken up by adult Catherine.
The ending scene does the same thing, and I sobbed. It didn’t help that the beautiful soundtrack was playing during that scene.
Charli XCX wrote and sang the soundtrack for Wuthering Heights, and she was the perfect fit for it. I loved that a period piece had a modern voice regarding the music. I compare it best to Bridgerton, where they will play instrumental covers of modern pop music.
Except, this was all completely new music from Charli. According to Apple Music, Charli was approached by Fennell in late 2024 and asked to contribute a song to the soundtrack. Charli replied by asking if she could do an entire album. Now, we have the beautiful soundtrack with the song “House” leading it.
I swear, “House” is forever stuck in my head. For me, it’s John Cale’s chilling monologue for the majority of the song. It gives me chills every time I hear it, and I instantly hit replay when it’s over.
In the film, I’m 50/50 about the placement of the soundtrack. This is my biggest pet peeve with movies that promote the soundtrack heavily before the release. For example, when Twisters (2024) was released, the song “Ain’t No Love In Oklahoma” was trending online and anticipated the release. Fans were excited to hear the song but were left with only a faint snippet of it in a random scene.
The same thing happened for “House.” I understand why it was placed where it was. It was the first song played in the film, during the opening Hanging Day scene. However, only random snippets were played, and it didn’t make much sense to me.
I think it would have fit better in later scenes, like after Heathcliff returns and Catherine is told she can’t see him anymore.
Finally, let’s talk plot. Just to reiterate, I have yet to read the book. I did read before seeing the film that a lot (like a lot) was left out. But I still enjoyed the plot.
But I think I’ve seen this film before.
It was the typical romance movie: star-crossed lovers kept separate because of their societal roles, and they didn’t get their happy ending. Now, I understand a lot was changed and left out. The film ended after Catherine’s death, and she never had her child.
Despite the comparison to both The Notebook and Romeo and Juliet, I still loved it. I was rooting so hard for Catherine and Heathcliff and was crushed when it just didn’t work.
Last point, and a quick one, there wasn’t a single likeable character — I liked it!
It truly shows the Victorian era. Catherine was selfishly trying to escape poverty, making Wuthering Heights crumble by marrying Edgar Linton. Heathcliff was so distraught by Catherine’s decision that he ran away, and when he returned, he decided to be petty. Nellie was just as petty and kept Catherine and Heathcliff apart for her own gain.
And Isabella was purely crazy.
Overall, I loved this movie. It captured romance that’s out of reach with realistic emotions. It was dark, romantic, and petty.
My final ratings are:
Cinematography: 10/10
Soundtrack: 9/10
Plot: 9/10