REVIEW: "Wuthering Heights" (2026 Film) - Starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi

Review by Jon Donnis

Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights is not the kind of period romance you put on for comfort. It opens with a public hanging and a crowd whipped into a strange, almost ecstatic state, and from that moment the tone is set. This is a grim, sweaty, openly sexual world where love is tangled up with humiliation and cruelty. Any expectation of a gentle literary adaptation quickly disappears into the mud of the Yorkshire moors.

Set in eighteenth century England, the story follows Catherine Earnshaw, known as Cathy, and the orphan boy her father brings home from Liverpool. He is presented to her as a kind of pet, a cruel little joke that says everything about the household. Cathy names him Heathcliff after her dead brother and the two grow inseparable. Their bond is fierce and protective, formed in opposition to an alcoholic, abrasive father and a house that seems to be slowly rotting from the inside out. When Heathcliff takes the blame for them being out late and is whipped, leaving permanent scars across his back, the film makes clear that pain and devotion will always sit side by side for these two.

Years later Wuthering Heights has fallen into disrepair, dragged down by gambling and drink. Cathy sees an escape in their wealthy neighbour Edgar Linton, a textile merchant with money and status. She believes that courting him might lift them all out of misery and somehow pull Heathcliff into high society too. Heathcliff, now reduced to a lowly servant, watches this plan with jealousy and quiet rage. Fennell leans hard into the erotic and the transgressive here, filling the edges of the house and the barns with furtive encounters and overheard moments that make the whole place feel feverish.

Cathy's time recovering at Thrushcross Grange leads to Edgar's proposal, which she accepts. When she returns home dressed in finery, Heathcliff keeps his distance. In a tearful confession to Nelly, Cathy admits she truly loves Heathcliff but feels it would degrade her to marry someone so poor. Heathcliff overhears only the worst of it and rides away, heartbroken, before she can speak of how deeply their souls are entwined. It is one of the film's strongest passages, powered by regret and missed words rather than spectacle.

Five years later he returns transformed, well groomed and mysteriously wealthy. Instead of reconciliation, he brings bitterness. He buys Wuthering Heights from Cathy's father, begins an intense sexual affair with Cathy, and toys with the idea of marrying Edgar's ward Isabella out of spite. From there the drama spirals into revenge, jealousy and self destruction. Marriages become weapons. Affairs turn vicious. Cathy locks herself away and starves. Letters are burned. Illness and miscarriage follow. By the time Heathcliff arrives too late to say goodbye to her dying body, the film has tipped fully into tragedy.

There is no denying how gorgeous the production is. The costumes, the design of the houses, and the windswept moors are beautifully realised. Every frame looks carefully composed. The performances are equally committed. Margot Robbie gives Cathy a reckless, volatile edge, while Jacob Elordi plays Heathcliff with a brooding intensity that suits the character's simmering resentment. Hong Chau provides a steadier presence as Nelly, observing the chaos with quiet concern. Visually and atmospherically, it is often breathtaking.

Yet for all that craft, the film feels oddly distant from its own characters. The emotions are big, the scenes explicit and provocative, but depth is sometimes lacking. Motivations blur together and plot turns arrive without much weight behind them. At two hours and fifteen minutes, it also feels long. There are stretches where the story simply drifts, relying on handsome close ups and moody cinematography rather than momentum. It gives the impression that style is being used to cover gaps in character and narrative.

What remains is a bold but uneven experience. This take on Wuthering Heights is sexy, toxic and melodramatic, full of lust and revenge, and undeniably striking to watch. At the same time, it lacks the consistency and emotional richness needed to truly land. You admire it more than you love it.

Wuthering Heights goes on a bit, and while you can clearly see where the budget has gone, the end result feels average rather than exceptional. It is likely to appeal most to those already fond of the story.

I score Wuthering Heights a 6 out of 10.

Out Now in Cinemas

REVIEW: Greenland 2: Migration (2026 Film) - Starring Gerard Butler and Morena Baccarin

Review by Jon Donnis

Greenland 2 Migration picks up five years after the Clarke comet ended the world, and it wastes little time reminding you how fragile what remains of humanity really is. Ric Roman Waugh returns to direct, and the tone is immediately familiar. This is not a film obsessed with scale for its own sake. It is far more interested in how people endure, what they cling to, and what they are willing to lose to protect those closest to them.

The story follows the Garrity family as survivors in an underground Greenland bunker, now living with the consequences of a planet locked into violent tectonic shifts, electromagnetic storms and radioactive fallout. When their refuge collapses and a tsunami wipes out most of the remaining community, the film pivots into a grim migration across a shattered Europe. Liverpool, London, Dover, Calais and finally the ruins near the Clarke impact site form a bleak road movie through a continent barely holding together. The journey structure is familiar, and at times the script does lean into expected beats, but the emotional throughline keeps it grounded.

Gerard Butler and Morena Baccarin carry the film with believable, restrained performances. Butler's John Garrity feels worn down by years of survival and quiet sacrifice, while Baccarin's Allison has grown into a leader shaped by loss rather than bravado. Their chemistry sells the idea of a family that has endured the unendurable. Roman Griffin Davis steps into the role of Nathan with confidence, and the character's desire to prove himself adds tension without tipping into melodrama. Amber Rose Revah's Dr Amina brings warmth and intelligence to the early part of the journey, making her fate hit harder than expected.

Where the film really succeeds is in its set pieces. The destruction of the Greenland facility, the chaos in Liverpool, and the military front lines near the crater are sharply staged and often genuinely tense. The effects work is mostly solid, especially when depicting environmental instability rather than outright explosions. A few CGI moments feel rushed and slightly undercooked, but they rarely derail the momentum. Waugh also hints at a developing world order, with militarised safe zones and whispered rumours on survivor networks, which gives the setting a sense of history rather than randomness.

Emotionally, the film earns its ending. The idea that the impact crater itself has become a place of healing, free from ash and storms, is handled with sincerity rather than spectacle. John's final moments are simple and effective, focused on protection and legacy rather than grand speeches. It is a quietly hopeful note in a genre that often mistakes nihilism for realism.

At just over 90 minutes, Greenland 2 Migration is tightly edited and refreshingly lean. There is very little wasted time, and the pacing keeps the stakes high without exhausting the audience. While the narrative can feel formulaic in places, and a handful of effects shots could have used more polish, the film's heart is in the right place.

Greenland 2 Migration turns out to be a surprisingly strong sequel to a film many people had half forgotten. Strong lead performances, well judged action, and a focus on moral integrity over empty spectacle push it comfortably over the line. I enjoyed it and would give Greenland 2 Migration a solid 7.5 out of 10.

Out Now in Cinemas