Valentine's Day, and a storm arrives
Wuthering Heights opened in US cinemas February 13, 2026, Valentine's Day weekend, directed by Emerald Fennell from her own screenplay, starring Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff. It premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on January 28, before its worldwide rollout, and it was released by Warner Bros Pictures in the UK on February 11, and in the US on February 13.
Fennell, who directed Promising Young Woman and Saltburn, brings her signature provocation to Emily Bronte's 1847 novel, about unrequited love and obsession on the Yorkshire moors. Her version ages up Catherine and Heathcliff, cuts the novel's second half, and zeroes in on passion, lust, and madness, rather than class, inheritance, and generational revenge.
That boldness divided audiences from day one. Online reactions were sharply divided, with praise for visuals and performances, and criticism as boring and unfaithful, according to review roundups. Some called it the best film of 2026, others called it a beautiful, miserable, sex-soaked misfire. Both reactions are true to different viewers, because Fennell did not make a safe adaptation. She made a Fennell film, using Bronte as a starting point.
Robbie and Elordi, at the centre of the storm
Robbie plays Catherine, Elordi plays Heathcliff, with Hong Chau, Shazad Latif, Alison Oliver, Martin Clunes, and Ewan Mitchell in supporting roles. Robbie also produces, through LuckyChap, with Fennell and Josey McNamara, which shows how personal this project was for its star, not just as an actor, but as a producer betting on a risky adaptation.
Elordi, who was Oscar-nominated for his work in Frankenstein, according to later coverage, brings a brooding, physical presence to Heathcliff, while Robbie brings star power and emotional volatility to Catherine. Their chemistry is the film's engine, and it works best when Fennell lets them be quiet, on the moors, in the rain, with only the wind and each other for company.
The supporting cast matters too, especially Chau, Latif, and Oliver, who ground the story in the Earnshaw household, and Clunes and Mitchell, who bring authority and menace to the world around Catherine and Heathcliff. Fennell's films live or die on ensemble, and Wuthering Heights is no exception, even when its leads dominate the poster.
What Fennell changed, and why it matters
The biggest change is structural. Catherine's death ends the movie, but the novel continues into another generation, with Heathcliff's revenge, Catherine's daughter, and a second love story that mirrors the first. Fennell cuts all of that, ending on Catherine's death, which makes the film a tragedy of passion, not a saga of revenge.
Fennell also adds a sexual affair, removes important characters, reshapes Nelly Dean's involvement, and ditches much of the novel's class theme, according to book-versus-movie guides. Those changes angered purists, who saw a classic reduced to its steamiest scenes, but they also freed Fennell to make a film about obsession, not about Victorian society, which is a legitimate, if divisive, artistic choice.
The film runs 136 minutes, or 2 hours, 18 minutes in some listings, and at that length, it starts to wane a bit in the third act, despite cutting half the story, according to reviews. That pacing critique is fair, because a film that cuts so much should feel tight, not long, and Wuthering Heights sometimes lingers on mood when it should move the story forward.
Box office, and a female-skewing audience
The film grossed around $85 million globally in its opening weekend, according to box office trackers, and exceeded $200 million worldwide by mid-March, with an audience that skews heavily female. That commercial success, despite mixed reviews, shows the power of Valentine's Day counter-programming, star casting, and a literary classic with a passionate, largely female readership.
Warner Bros marketed the film as inspired by the greatest love story of all time, with a trailer set to Charli XCX's Chains of Love, which gave it a modern, pop edge, even as its setting remained 18th-century Yorkshire. That marketing, romantic, gothic, and a little dangerous, matched Fennell's tone, and it brought in viewers who might not otherwise watch a Bronte adaptation.
The film is now available on digital and 4K Ultra HD, according to Warner Bros listings, which means you can judge it at home, without the Valentine's Day hype, or the opening weekend debate. Watch it as a Fennell film first, and a Bronte adaptation second, and you will enjoy it more, because that is how it was made.
Should you watch it, and how
If you love Bronte, watch it, but expect a reinterpretation, not a faithful adaptation. Read the novel first, or after, and notice what Fennell kept, the moors, the passion, the names, and what she cut, the second generation, the class critique, the long revenge. That comparison is the film's real conversation, and it is more interesting than a simple good or bad verdict.
If you love Fennell, watch it for her visual style, her provocative imagery, and her willingness to shock, including an opening that reviewers described as deliberately disturbing. If you want a quiet, faithful period drama, this is not it, and you will be disappointed. But if you want a bold, messy, passionate film that sparks argument, Wuthering Heights delivers, on the moors, and long after the credits.
Sources and reporting
- Bronte Parsonage Museum — September 2025 · Verifies the Valentine's Day 2026 cinema release, Robbie as Catherine, Elordi as Heathcliff, and Fennell directing
- Books of Brilliance — October 2026 · Verifies the structural changes, Catherine's death ending, and February 13, 2026 US opening
- Gadgets 360 — 2026 · Verifies the February 13, 2026 date, the full cast list, and Fennell as director
