Ever since Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi were cast as Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, “Wuthering Heights” has faced controversy after controversy. Critics were quick to point out that Robbie is decades older than Catherine, and Elordi, a white man, plays a character repeatedly coded as non-white. 

The structure of the film has also garnered significant controversy for much of the same reasons the casting did: it is unfaithful to the original 1847 novel. Director Emerald Fennell, whose past directorial projects include “Promising Young Woman” and “Saltburn,” makes several changes to the Gothic tragedy by Emily Brontë, which deals with not only love and revenge, but class and race. However, Fennell only engages with the former themes. 

Fennell has been explicitly clear about her decision against a faithful adaptation since the beginning of the movie-making process, stating that she wanted to “try and recreate the feeling of a teenage girl reading the book for the first time.” This idea is frankly insulting to young women everywhere, as it suggests they are incapable of grasping any of the book’s other core themes except for romance. 

Since the movie’s harshest critics have been the book’s most die-hard fans, it is surprising to learn that Fennell, too, is a fan of the book, who has described being “obsessed” and “driven mad” by Cathy and Heathcliff’s story when she first read it as 14-years-old. She defended Elordi’s casting because he “looked exactly like the illustration of Heathcliff on the first book [she] read.” 

Given these facts, it is clear that “Wuthering Heights” is an excuse for Fennell to bring her teenage fantasies to the big screen. Her adaptation says a lot about either her media literacy (or lack thereof) or her complete disregard for the original material. 

It’s a version that can be best described as a sexual romantasy fanfiction. Nevertheless, one that should be judged by its own merits. 

“Wuthering Heights” is a movie that has clearly set out to shock audiences, yet it falls short of any novelty. The end result is an entertaining film that will have you leaving the theater slightly bewildered. It is good the way hearing a particularly good piece of gossip is good. 

The first official teaser for “Wuthering Heights” makes it clear that it is a film that is out to provoke people, with sensory shots of bread dough being kneaded by glistening hands, yet another pair of hands fingering egg yolks and yet another pushing her finger into a fish’s mouth. But the film is neither as dark nor shocking as it sets out to be. Its more provocative moments merely make you cringe in embarrassment for anyone involved. 

Although Robbie and Elordi seem like strange choices for Cathy and Heathcliff, and an even stranger pair, their fantastic acting makes up for the lack of organic chemistry between the two. 

Charlotte Mellington and Owen Cooper, who play young Cathy and Heathcliff, respectively, are scene-stealers in the first part of the movie, and their acting is on par with that of Robbie’s and Elordi’s. 

Overall, the acting is strong enough to pull some discordant elements together. Individually, these elements seem like they would make a good movie: Robbie and Elordi are prestige actors, Charli XCX is an, ahem, X-cellent songstress, andFennell has proven herself to be a popular director through reception of her past projects. But there is something about these components that do not work well together. 

The visuals are gorgeous, and reminded me somewhat of “Frankenstein,” which Elordi starred in last year. “Wuthering Heights” and “Frankenstein” are alike in many ways: both are classic Gothic novels that were adapted into 21st century movies less than a year apart. The directors of both adaptations took some creative liberties with the movie. But where “Frankenstein” director Guillermo del Toro managed to retain some of the original message, Fennell loses it completely. 

If you are a devout fan of the book, the movie-watching experience is bound to be frustrating for you. But if you ignore the source material and view Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” as its own story, you’ll be bound to feel some enjoyment.