Book Adaptation
Emerald Fennell Unleashes Bold, Erotic ‘Wuthering Heights’ Trailer Featuring New Charli XCX Song
Emerald Fennell has delivered her most audacious work yet. The Oscar-winning Promising Young Woman and Saltburn filmmaker has unveiled the first full-length trailer for her fiercely debated adaptation of Emily Brontë’s 1847 masterpiece, Wuthering Heights. Starring Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff, the trailer teases a sweeping, tortured romance billed boldly as “the greatest love story of all time.” The footage finally offers a deeper look at Fennell’s direction beyond the erotic flair of the teaser that stirred early controversy online.
Robbie and Elordi Bring Tragic Lovers to Life
The trailer opens by tracing Cathy and Heathcliff’s fateful childhood bond before plunging viewers into the violent passion that defines their adult lives on the West Yorkshire moors. Margot Robbie’s Cathy asks Jacob Elordi Heathcliff what he’d do if he were rich. “Live in a big house, be cruel to my servants, take a wife,” Elordi deadpans — hinting at the class resentment that drives the novel.
Just as in Brontë’s story, Cathy marries Edgar Linton (Shazad Latif) for status, destroying Heathcliff and setting off a cycle of obsession and revenge. The trailer leans into gothic melodrama: rain-soaked embraces, heartbreak, betrayal, and a striking final line:
“So kiss me, and let us both be damned.”
Margot Robbie & Jacob Elordi in Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of ‘Wuthering Heights’
Charli XCX Debuts Second Original Track: “Chains of Love”
A major highlight of the Wuthering Heights trailer is Charli XCX’s soaring synth-driven anthem “Chains of Love,” released the same day. The track is part of a full Wuthering Heights concept album dropping February 13, one day before the film’s release.
Billboard reports this is Charli XCX’s second original contribution to the soundtrack, following “House,” created with Velvet Underground icon John Cale. Charli describes the album as “raw, wild, sexual, gothic, tortured and undeniably British.”
What began as a request for “a song” from Emerald Fennell quickly escalated into a full album after Charli XCX fell in love with the script. “Is it even a Charli XCX album?” she wrote on Substack. “I don’t know — nor do I care.”
A Film Already Courting Controversy
Emerald Fennell’s adaptation has ignited debate since its announcement. Critics questioned Margot Robbie’s age for the role and Jacob Elordi’s casting as a character historically described with Romany or darker features.
Test screening buzz intensified scrutiny. One viewer described the film as “aggressively provocative and tonally abrasive,” citing a shocking execution scene many called “disturbing.”
Fennell has embraced the discourse. Speaking at the Brontë Women’s Writing Festival, she said the novel “cracked me open” at 14 and remains deeply personal: “There’s an enormous amount of sado-masochism in this book. There’s a reason people were shocked by it.”
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A Valentine’s Day Release That Promises Fireworks
Wuthering Heights storms into cinemas February 14, 2026, promising a haunting blend of Brontë’s raw romantic violence, Fennell’s fearless vision, and Charli XCX’s electrifying soundtrack.
It may just become the most divisive — and talked-about — literary adaptation of the decade.
