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The first trailer for Emerald Fennell’s racy adaptation of Wuthering Heights has sparked a social media frenzy, with fans branding the film ‘erotic softcore porn.’
Starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, this racy new version of Emily Bronte’s iconic novel is set to hit cinemas on Valentine’s Day.
No stranger to making headlines with her racy works, the trailer shows Margot’s turn as the restricted Catherine Earnshaw, who finds herself intertwined with the mysterious servant Heathcliff.
Those expecting a faithful adaptation of the beloved work may be in for a rude awakening as Emeralds’ upcoming film is said to lean into the ‘stylised depravity’ she has become known for after directing the 2023 hit Saltburn.
This was echoed after test screenings last month, with some attendees appalled by the film’s jaw-dropping opening scene, which features a public hanging that sees the condemned man ‘ejaculate mid-execution’.
Having seen the trailer for themselves, some fans seemed to agree as they took to X to brand the film ‘erotic softcore porn.’
Posts on X included: ‘Is Wuthering Heights about BDSM and fingering a fish? First in my generation to see a scene like that;
‘Listen, I’m no puritan and I’m into horror, it takes a f**k ton to purely shock me, so it’s not the hypersexuality that makes me side-eye this, it’s the fact that we are completely changing the tone & theme of the novel? Why? Couldn’t she make an original feature film?;
‘Genuinely feeling haunted by the erotic retelling of Wuthering Heights and I don’t even like the book;
‘The gothic is erotic by definition, contrary to the people beamoning ”they’re making wuthering heights porn!” there’s sexual tension between Cathy and Heathcliff in the book, which doesn’t really debase their bigger than life, spiritual bond and then heathcliff’s sadism;
‘I don’t care if it’s accurate to the source material it just looks sexy and fun;
‘THEY PUT BDSM IN WUTHERING HEIGHTS?!?!?!?;
‘Knowing Emerald Fennell’s movies this adaptation will be chaotic, twisted and very provocative with many juicy scenes;
‘I’m seated for the insane cinematography, and for Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi’s chemistry;
‘I don’t even mean to be pretentious but I did not read Wuthering Heights at the ripe age of 16 for it to be turned into a soft porn movie;
‘Just saw the teaser for #WutheringHeights and it is way worse than I expected… is it me or is it giving soft porn vibes??? SMH;
‘#WutheringHeightsMovie is the 50 Shades Of Grey we never got.’
Wuthering Heights had already received a mixed reaction at its first test screening in Dallas last month, with World Of Reel reporting the audience’s reaction to an early version of the film.
The feature opens with a public hanging that sees the condemned man ‘ejaculate mid-execution’.
His agony sends the crowd into an ‘orgiastic frenzy’ and a nun reportedly fondles ‘the corpse’s visible erection’.
The film is also said to feature ‘intimate, clinical and purposefully discomforting’ masturbation scenes and a BDSM-inspired sex scene involving horse reins.
The camera is also said to linger on ‘suggestive’ imagery including ‘egg yolks running through fingers’ and ‘dough being kneaded with quiet aggression’.
The publication went on to report that Margot and Jacob both deliver ‘committed performances’ and have ‘great chemistry’.
The teaser also gave viewers their first look at Owen Cooper as a young Heathcliff, in his first major role after his Emmy-nominated turn in Netflix’s Adolescence.
Emerald has made a name for herself as the director of Promising Young Woman and the black comedy Saltburn which saw Barry Keoghan’s titular anti-hero engage in a viral scene where he drank the dirty bathwater of his eccentric classmate.
Along with her directing and writing career, Emerald has also acted, notably playing Queen Camilla in the third and fourth series of The Crown.
It’s also been announced that Charli XCX will soundtrack the film, with the hitmaker sharing the news on X as she posted the trailer on Wednesday.
Charli wrote: ‘new original songs by me for Emerald Fennell’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi. in theatres february 14th. happy early valentines <3.’
Earlier this year, casting director Kharmel Cochrane defended her choices for the film following complaints that Margot was too old to play the role of Catherine Earnshaw.
Some fans also questioning star Jacob’s ethnicity, as Heathcliff is perceived to have a Romany or Gypsy background.
Speaking at the Sands Film Festival in Scotland, Kharmel said there was ‘no need to be accurate’ as the source material is ‘just a book’.
She continued: ‘There’s definitely going to be some English Lit fans that are not going to be happy. Wait until you see the set design, because that is even more shocking. And there may or may not be a dog collar in it.’
Wuthering Heights was published by Emily Brontë in 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell, one year before her death.
It follows the story of an orphan, Heathcliff, who is taken in by the Earnshaw family, and he later grows close to their daughter and his foster sister, Cathy.
The first known adaptation was from A. V. Bramble in 1920, with Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon’s 1939 version being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Born in 1818 in West Yorkshire, Emily was the fifth of six children, and spent most of her short life in the moorland village of Haworth, where her Irish father Patrick was curate.
But life dealt Emily a series of terrible blows as she lost her mother when she was three, then two older sisters when she was seven.
Following her trauma, the novelist retreated into a fantasy world, writing stories and poetry with her siblings.
The writer poured her suffering and passion into Wuthering Heights, a wrenching love story as raw as the Yorkshire Moors on which it’s set.
