Emerald Fennell’s 'Wuthering Heights' draws 'scorching hot' first reactions

Two weeks before its Feb. 13 release, Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights is already generating strong early reactions following its Los Angeles premiere, with Variety’s Jazz Tangcay calling the film “a scorching hot and twisted tale.” BuzzFeed’s Ada Enechi wrote “you’re either going to love it or hate it” and said she “loved it,” praising both Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie and singling out the score and cinematography as “breathtaking.” TV host Maude Garett described the film as “utter perfection” that will “make you feel everything during and afterward.” Variety’s Tangcay added that the two leads deliver “sexual tension on a whole other level of hot,” and the short preview concluded, “Only Emerald could take a classic, turn it on its head, make you fall completely in lust, and then utterly destroy your soul.” The release has been controversial from the start: Elordi’s casting drew backlash, and casting director Kharmel Cochrane pushed back, saying, “Just wait till you see it, and then you decide whether you want to shoot me,” and adding, “You don't need to be accurate.

It's just a book. It's all art.” A reported August 2025 test screening reportedly produced “mixed reactions” and “signs of physical discomfort among the audience,” with some noting the film’s hyper-sexualized imagery plays out very differently from the novel and led to “polarized” responses.

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