The revisionist look at Emily Bronte is complete. In her time she was deemed crazy for being so in touch with her feelings that men didn’t understand her. Time has not only proven the patriarchy dumb, but has led to this time and place, where Emerald Fennell can modernize Bronte’s tale and show the book has as much power now as it did for the last few centuries. Easy to do, staring at shirtless Jacob Elordi.
For the high schoolers who haven’t gotten to the book yet, Wuthering Heights is a crumbling estate in the Yorkshire moors owned by Mr. Earnshaw (Martin Clunes). A bad drunk/gambler, Martin drinks himself into oblivion, often bringing home “pets” to appease his only daughter Catherine (Cathy, played young by Charlotte Mellington). The “pets” include Nelly (Vy Nguyen young, Hong Chau as an adult), Earnshaw’s illegitimate daughter, and a northern poor boy with no name (Own Cooper), whom Catherine names Heathcliff. Catherine and Heathcliff become inseparable, forging bonds as they get older. Things get emotionally complicated when Edgar Linton (Shazad Latif) and his sister Isabella (Alison Oliver) move onto the land next to theirs, potential suitors for the now adult Cathy (Margot Robbie) and Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi), who also start looking at each other, um, in a more adult way.
For the many women excited to see Emerald Fennell’s latest film on date nights with boyfriends, I think I figured out how you can explain the director to them. She’s female Michael Bay. What does that mean exactly? Well, Michael Bay films are built for 13-15 year old boys; the action sequences are usually the best sequences of the year, surrounding a story that thinks it telling the next great fable when instead they’re using simple, understandable stereotypes and smoking hot dumb women so boys will not grow restless waiting for Optimus Prime to beat the CGI hell out of a Decepticon. Emerald Fennell is Bay’s equal and opposite. Her movies are built around stories women should enjoy but were never written for them: deception, psychological thrillers, and romance. Her “Optimus Prime” is movie beauty: every one of her films I would watch on mute and feel like I’m watching art incarnate. There’s shots in nature that make Wuthering Heights the most beautifully epic place I’ve seen; everything Margot Robbie wears is gorgeous; and everything Jacob Elordi wears is designed to make him, and the women in the theater, damp, hot, and heavy. But underneath all that craft is…something that thinks it’s smarter than it actually is. It’s going for guttural shock over substance, like the I think unintentionally funny opening of this movie. Fennell’s interpretation of the longing and love inside of Wuthering Heights is so modern and weird that you can’t look away, but also have a hard time taking it seriously. The dialogue is so direct intentionally to make clear what Fennell wants, but flirts liberally with how basic human interaction works, undercutting her message. This understanding has helped me appreciate Emerald Fennell more, properly placing what she does in context; here’s hoping it can help the men in your life understand too.
And like Megan Fox/Will Smith/Mark Wahlberg were to Michael Bay’s success. Fennell has her band of thespians ready and willing to deliver for her. Margot Robbie produces Fennell’s films, and finally gets her chance to star in one here. Even though she’s a bit miscast, Robbie commits to Emerald’s vision, giving her all and especially nailing the longing and heartbreak Cathy goes through in her tumultuous relationship with Heathcliff. Matching her beat for beat is Jacob Elordi. Heathcliff says less, which Elordi uses to his great advantage by letting his striking giant frame just smolder and melt whomever he’s looking at; he almost makes you forget that Heathcliff’s supposed to be dark skinned (his northern English accent helps with that too). You heave alongside the two of them as they can barely contain their feelings for one another, like opposite ends of a magnet. Alison Oliver doesn’t have the pedigree of the other two, but her Fennell player gets elevated the most here, for crafting the perfect Emerald Fennell Isabella: creepy, helpless, and darkly horny in equal measure.
Female Michael Bay does it again! With expectations properly aligned, Emerald Fennell movies are gonna be a joy to watch and experience, drawing big and excited crowds with them. I’m gonna enjoy it so much so I’m gonna “go woke” and flip my theses. Ergo, I can’t wait for Male Emerald Fennell’s next Transformers movie. Just trying to help close the gender understanding gap, y’all.