A spiritual prequel to The Addams Family… if Morticia secretly had a thing for Lurch.

Returning to his remote farmhouse “Wuthering Heights” on the Yorkshire moors from a night of drinking and gambling, Mr. Earnshaw (Martin Clunes) brings home a seemingly mute boy (Owen Cooper). Earnshaw’s daughter Cathy (Charlotte Mellington) names him “Heathcliff” — her new pet — and a friendship is struck. Nelly (Vy Nguyen), an illegitimate noble’s daughter and previous stray taken in by Mr. Earnshaw, endures Cathy and Heathcliff growing up together, no longer Cathy’s sole source of attention. When Earnshaw’s indebtedness threatens to ruin them all, the neighboring arrival of Edgar Linton (Shazad Latif) and his ward Isabella (Alison Oliver) provides new possibilities for Cathy (Margot Robbie) while complicating all prior assumptions regarding her foster sibling Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi). With no one else to turn to, Cathy goes to Nelly (Hong Chau) in confidence for her counsel…

“As God is my witness, these heights will never wuther again!” There have been well over twenty visual adaptations of the only novel by English author Emily Brontë, plus a very Kate Bush song. Writer and director Emerald Fennell has previously gifted audiences with Promising Young Woman and the seditious Saltburn, so this adaptation feels very on-brand. Themes of aloneness, duty, and longing under the baleful eye of Death (and taxes) lurking in every shadow gives the story immediacy. Yet the cast list is somewhat sparce considering the length of the narrative… unless some serious modifications to the plot have taken place. Those familiar with the novel must ask themselves: was something important removed, and was anything unnecessary added in?

The opening shot is a perfect bait and switch (call it Heathcliff’s notes) so no one unfamiliar will be entirely surprised how this goes. For a renowned Gothic tale, many of the novel’s deaths are reduced to background mentions, leaning into the doomed romance rather than creep in cemeteries. The use of arterial-red paint must have dented the world supply as much as pink did for Barbie, but there’s a damnably clever change-up when viewers get their only glimpse of Edgar’s room: well done! While nothing supernatural is going on, hints of it ooze from the sets, from misty moors to black stone ruins, even the rooms at Wuthering Heights scream with dark history and black rot that goes undefined except in the imagination. By the time our lovers get down to business, viewers also need a release from all the visual, emotional, and (credits to Charlie xcx) audible tension… just before the bill comes due.

Some imagery invokes Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula, including one moment of “usually the blood gets off on the second floor.” Other set designs give off considerable Blackbeard vibes, including a dollhouse element surpassing Hereditary. Robbie and Elordi flaunt their chemistry, utterly convincing in their desire as well as their disdain, so hopeless young romantics will have plenty of newfound aesthetics to borrow from instead of Romeo+Juliet. Aside from an entire generation being cut from the plot, there are a few moments of inexplicable silliness, one demanding a safe word to keep it from ripping viewers entirely out of the movie. Fortunately, Fennell is willing to take these chances, setting her work apart thus far.

Note to all future period screenplay writers: it’s not unusual and/or creepy to make a doll (or have one) with human hair, especially in the 18th century (please look it up). Also, can someone offer Jacob Elordi a role where he doesn’t stalk women outside their windows at night in the rain? At a little over two hours, no welcome is overstayed because fate rarely rewards forbidden loves or lovers… unless their names are Gomez and Morticia. :: snap, snap ::

This adaptation of Wuthering Heights is rated R for sexual content, some violent content, language, and Barbie throwing over the Creature for a dashing Jon Lovitz (I cannot be the only one who thought this; you know what to do, SNL).

Three skull recommendation out of four