Critics are calling Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights "sexy" yet "incoherent," as the adaptation lands the director's lowest Rotten Tomatoes score yet

Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff and Margot Robbie as Cathy in Wuthering Heights

(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Official reviews of Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights are in, and the new romantic drama is dividing critics.

At the time of writing, Wuthering Heights stands at 70% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is by no means a bad score. However, this is Fennell's lowest-scoring movie yet, with the director's debut, Promising Young Woman, coming in at 90%, and 2023 thriller Saltburn scoring 72%.

The new movie, which adapts Emily Brontë's classic novel of the same name, is dividing critics, with many unhappy with Fennell's take on the sacred story. "This is Emily Brontë reinterpreted by Lord Flashheart," said Robert Hutton from The Critic, and IGN's Hanna Flint said, "It all feels too forced, like a sales bin, smutty romance novel come to life, working too hard to hide the erasure of Brontë's far more complex ideas about the hell of societal convention."

Others add that Fennell was not able to achieve the level of intensity possible, as Kristy Puchko from Mashable likens Wuthering Heights to "an incoherent collage of teenage lust and rebellion, the kind better suited to a high school locker than a movie theater." Robert Kojder from Flickering Myth says the movie is "emotionally flat and possibly afraid to live and die on the edge of bold," like Fennell's past features.

However, other critics are celebrating the movie for its daring take on the beloved story. Gabriella Geisinger from Digital Spy describes Wuthering Heights as "a visual and aural feast that, though at times frustrating, stirs at the very heartstrings that Brontë surely intended," and NYC Movie Guru's Avi Offer calls it a "sexy, exhilarating and visually stunning adaptation."

I'm the Junior Social Media Editor here at GamesRadar+, handling all of Total Film's social platforms. However, I also write, covering all things film and TV for the site's entertainment section. I joined GamesRadar+ in 2023 and have been here ever since. I previously worked in communications after graduating with an MA in journalism. In my spare time, you can find me binging horror movies or getting lost in a cosy little game on my Switch.

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