The trailer for Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” is a masterclass in tension. There’s mounting desire, devastating heartache, and Jacob Elordi shirtless (plus that wall-licking moment because why not?). But here’s the kicker: despite all that smoldering intensity, there’s not a single kiss in the two-and-a-half-minute trailer. That restraint? That’s the whole point.
This adaptation promises to honor Emily Brontë’s obsessive, all-consuming love story while bringing a distinctly modern and decidedly feminine perspective on what makes passion truly life-shattering.
England Scandalized By Victorian Passion
When Emily Brontë published Wuthering Heights in 1847, critics were appalled. One reviewer called it “coarse and loathsome,” while another deemed it unfit for polite drawing rooms. But Brontë wasn’t writing explicit love scenes. What scandalized Victorian England was the raw psychological intensity between Heathcliff and Catherine: their obsessive connection, emotional violence, and the suggestion that desire and love could be this consuming, this destructive, this utterly outside the bounds of respectable society.
From Page to Screen: A Bold Translation
So how does Fennell translate that 19th-century scandal for 2025? The film goes there, including BDSM dynamics, scenes of (ahem) self-satisfaction, and other NSFW elements. But Robbie clarifies: “Everyone’s expecting this to be very, very explicit. I think people will be surprised. Not to say there aren’t sexual elements and that it’s not provocative—it definitely is provocative—but it’s more romantic than provocative.”
The trailer showcases exactly that seductive tone. Beyond Elordi’s romance-novel good looks (that beard, that hair), we get raw emotional vulnerability from both stars, delicious hints of jealousy, and brief flashes and close-ups that remain tantalizingly unclear, building mysterious tension.
What sets this version apart is its female lens. Both Fennell and Robbie (who are in their 30s and married with children) focused on what actually reads as exciting from their perspective. Their on-set conversations centered on quietly sensual moments: Heathcliff shielding Cathy’s face from the rain, picking her up with one arm.
“These epic romances and period pieces aren’t often made by women,” Robbie noted.
Faithful readers will recognize the psychological complexity and dark romance, while contemporary audiences get a version that understands true heat comes from yearning, not just skin (though there’s plenty of that too).
Worth the Wait
This isn’t your grandmother’s period piece (even if she might secretly enjoy it). Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” promises the kind of female-directed romance that understands passion isn’t just about what you show but what you withhold, what you suggest, what simmers beneath the surface. Nearly 180 years after shocking Victorian readers, Brontë’s story of obsessive love gets a new interpretation that might just scandalize audiences all over again, for (partly) different reasons. And we’re finally going to get much more than kissing.