Much Ado About the ‘Wuthering Heights’ Trailer

Brönte’s seminal 1847 Gothic novel chronicles the relationships between two families of East Yorkshire’s upper class, the Earnshaws and the Lintons. It’s more specifically known for the tumultuous romance that unfurls between Catherine, the Earnshaws’ young daughter, and Healthcliff, the Lintons’ adopted son. It’s a story of breaking class divides, familial tension and a romance that endures despite both.

Flash forward to July 2024, 177 years later. Emerald Fennell is eight months out from the release of box office success Saltburn. She announces her intent to write and direct an adaptation of Bronte’s classic. By fall, the film secures two of Fennell’s past collaborators: Margot Robbie, a producer on Fennell’s previous projects, and Jacob Elordi, who starred in ‘Saltburn’ as enigmatic Oxford millionaire Felix.

A year later, the first official trailer is here.

Beginning with a bucolic countryside view and light orchestral music, it puts on the facade of a classic literary adaptation for just short of ten seconds. Underscored by Charli XCX’s “Everything is romantic,” the trailer gives way to sultry, longing glances and suggestive contact amidst intriguing, panoramic shots of the Yorkshire moors in Northern England.

In its last moments, the trailer invites viewers to “come undone” this upcoming Valentine’s Day. Many have already done so with their feelings about the film well in advance.

The trailer promises elements that have made Fennell’s past two projects the talk of the town: radiant cinematography, emotionally charged exchanges and an inevitable freaky streak. But Fennell’s penchant for provocation hasn’t been so well-received. “the concept of reading wuthering heights so that i can give the adaption the hate it deserves,” quipped one X user.

The film’s initial casting announcement was also met with disdain, and the fact that a 35-year-old Robbie is plays a traditionally teenage Catherine is hardly the issue at hand. “not to be that one friend who is too woke but bleaching the class and racial otherness out of wuthering heights to sell a horny whitewashed romance genuinely pisses me off,” said one user on X.

Brönte describes Heathcliff as racially ambiguous, and his resulting alienation informs conflicts throughout the story. It’s hardly the sentiment that white-boy-of-the-month Elordi will evoke. Previous Heathcliffs – Tom Hardy, Ralph Fiennes and Timothy Dalton – have consistently been cast as white men, marking people’s qualms as cumulative. James Howson, who took on the role in the novel’s 2011 adaptation, proves the one exception. Subtracting the racial element from Brönte’s plot irrevocably shifts the dynamic between the Earnshaw and Linton families. It strips the story of depth, not to mention the general opportunity to grant a top-grade role to an actor of color.​

The film’s aesthetics, which feature a luxury and eeriness that are undeniably Fennell, have also come into question for their loyalty to Brönte’s source material. Beginning when photos of Robbie donning a wedding dress too modern for the novel’s time period surfaced online in March, viewers have criticized its aesthetic liberties. But to what extent does an adaptation owe total adherence to its source, considering the slew of adaptations that have come before? Is the prospect of artistic experimentation not enticing?

Consider The Great Gatsby’s adaptation from 2013. Obviously, the who’s who on the West Egg in the 1920s were not letting loose to Fergie, but imposing dance-music over party scenes was a creative choice meant to evoke the same feelings of euphoria in modern audiences that jazz did during the period it took place. So can’t the psychodramatic world of Wuthering Heights be invigorated through an original Charli XCX hyperpop soundtrack? The novel was thought-provoking to readers at the time of its initial publication – but it also scandalized and thrilled them. Cranking that up may be Fennell’s attempt to emulate its initial reactions for the modern eye.

But given polarized reactions to Fennell’s take on a rape-revenge plot in Promising Young Woman and depictions of class divides in Saltburn, the crux of this criticism seems to be a general lack of faith in Fennell to embody the complexities of the source text.

It’s difficult to write off a film from a 90-second trailer consisting of its most evocative visuals. We’ll have to wait a few months to see if the pessimism around Fennell’s third feature film was well-earned. If the film turns out to be is a scandalous, candy-colored romp, it becomes a separate question of the extent to which adaptations owe their source material loyalty – a stance that, ultimately, is entirely up to the rest of us.

Promotional image courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures