‘Intoxicating, bewitching... and horny’: The first reactions to Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights are in

“A bodice-ripping crowd pleaser”, “a whole other level of HOT” and outright “horny”. The verdicts are in for Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights adaptation and it seems the film may well live up to the hype.

We’ll finally get to see Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi in action as Cathy and Heathcliff when Saltburn director Fennell’s adaptation of Emily Brontë’s 1874 classic arrives in cinemas in less than a fortnight.

Some lucky critics have seen Wuthering Heights early though, and while full reviews are embargoed until closer to the film’s release date, attendees at the recent Los Angeles premiere have been given the OK to post on social media.

“Emerald Fennell’s #WutheringHeightsMovie is a god-tier new classic,” film critic Courtney Howard declared. “Intoxicating, transcendent, tantalising, bewitching, lust worthy, hypnotic. Expertly captures the breathtaking ache [and] essence of desire.”

IndieWire editor-at-large Anne Thompson was also won over, predicting that Wuthering Heights will “soar at the box office”.

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“It's a rip-roaring, bodice-ripping crowd-pleaser,” she continued. “Both Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie will come out ahead. Audiences will fall for Emerald Fennell’s garish visuals and unrestrained direction. Everything is BIG.”

The decision to cast Aussies Elordi and Robbie as the two leads raised eyebrows, with many pointing out 35-year-old Robbie is almost two decades older than Cathy is in the original text, while Heathcliff is described as “dark-skinned”.

Thompson isn’t the only critic to praise the pair, though. Variety’s senior artisans editor Jazz Tangcay described the movie as “a scorching hot and twisted tale”, adding: “Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi’s chemistry and sexual tension is a whole other level of HOT!”

“Only Emerald could take a classic, turn it on its head, make you fall completely in lust, and then utterly destroy your soul,” she continued. “An exquisite spectacle of craftsmanship that left me salivating over the costumes, cinematography and production design. Obsessively in love with it.”

Film critic Brandon Norwood added: “Solid! Margot and Jacob are explosive together. Their chemistry leaps off the screen. The craft on display is top-notch. A tad too long, but I was thoroughly entertained. And yeah it’s hot. It’s horny.”

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“If you already thought Jacob Elordi was the next big thing after Euphoria, Saltburn, and Frankenstein, just wait until you see him here,” entertainment writer Scott Menzel said. “The sexual tension and chemistry between Margot Robbie and Elordi is so intense you can practically cut it with a knife.”

The film’s stars and director are currently on a global press tour to promote the project, and Fennell recently defended the decision to cast Elordi as Heathcliff, telling The Hollywood Reporter: “I think the thing is everyone who loves this book has such a personal connection to it, and so you can only ever make the movie that you sort of imagined yourself when you read it.

“I don’t know, I think I was focusing on the pseudo-masochistic elements of it.”

Wuthering Heights is in cinemas from 13 February.