“Wuthering Heights”

Manuel São Bento

Rating: C- Walking into Emerald Fennell's latest venture, I carried a cautious optimism, hoping for a reimagining that justified its existence beyond mere aesthetics. In many ways, WUTHERING HEIGHTS is a triumph of technical artistry; the production design is immaculate, and the costumes offer a masterclass in period detail. Linus Sandgren's cinematography is particularly arresting, utilizing gorgeous silhouettes and immersive visual callbacks that frame the story with a haunting, pristine beauty. When paired with a cathartic, sweeping score from Anthony Willis, the feature's craftsmanship becomes undeniable. However, this film serves as a sobering reminder that technical brilliance cannot salvage a hollow foundation. It's the most recent case against the notion that striking imagery can compensate for a broken narrative, as WUTHERING HEIGHTS ultimately feels like a style-over-substance exercise that prioritizes visual vamping over the raw, psychological gravity required for such a legendary tale. As a viewer who often isn’t familiar with the source material, I'm typically the first to advocate for a filmmaker's creative liberty. Yet, the choices made in this adaptation are bafflingly contradictory. The story, ostensibly centered on a monumental love, quickly devolves into a repetitive cycle of toxic behavior and juvenile vengeance, with protagonists who navigate their world without a shred of morality. WUTHERING HEIGHTS strips away the spiritual obsession that defines the original bond, replacing it with a prolonged, almost demonic montage of physical encounters that makes their connection feel carnal rather than soulful. Fennell leans so heavily into a maximalist tone that the thematic weight is completely gutted, leaving a gaping hole in Heathcliff's character evolution and making the circular, frustratingly redundant dialogue feel like an endurance test. Ultimately, WUTHERING HEIGHTS is a visually sumptuous yet emotionally hollow experience that forgets that for any adaptation to truly resonate, it must preserve the beating heart of the story it seeks to tell.