Onscreen romantic combustion ~ BrontëBlog

Well, as expected, this is going to be a long post devoted to reactions to the trailer of Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights.

One of the most repeated adjectives to describe the trailer is 'steamy', used by IndieWire, for instance, which also looks back on the controversial history of the film. 'Steamy' is also used by Deadline.

The first trailer for director Emerald Fennell‘s adaptation of Emily Brontë‘s classic period tale of love and longing, Wuthering Heights, has dropped and let’s just say it’s more Bridgerton than Downton Abbey.
The film features the red-hot pairing of Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, and it does not look to waste its opportunities for onscreen romantic combustion.
The trailer opens with a typical establishing shot of an estate on the West Yorkshire moors, then a beautiful close up of Robbie and then, suddenly, a very sensual tight shot of two female hands kneading bread.
From there we see, interspersed between more staid images, a bare, sweaty back; a shirtless Elordi handling hay in a stable; more kneading of bread; fingers running through egg yokes; Robbie’s character putting her fingers in the mouth of Elordi’s; a bodice being tightened; a bodice being cut away; more fingers in mouths; a woman having horse tack placed on her face; more shirtless Elordi; the duo face-to-face about to kiss; and, of course, a finger in the mouth of a fish. (Tom Tapp)

Also 'steamy' for Rolling Stone:

Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi are set to ignite screens in director Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Emily Brontë’s classic novel Wuthering Heights, with the first trailer showcasing a sultry reimagining of the timeless tale. Shirtless Jacob Elordi, knuckles in greasy dough, suggestive finger-tracing, it’s enough to make any pulse quicken.
Elordi’s Heathcliff delivers the provocative line, “I can follow you like a dog to the end of the world,” setting the tone for what appears to be an intensely passionate adaptation.
Fennell’s vision includes plenty of provocative imagery, all suggesting the film will embrace the intensity of Brontë’s original work. The tagline “Drive me mad” punctuates the trailer between glimpses of the pair’s all-consuming romance.
The soundtrack choice proves particularly inspired, featuring Charli XCX’s “Everything Is Romantic” throughout the teaser. The British pop star has confirmed her involvement extends beyond this single track, revealing on Instagram that she’s contributing multiple original songs to the film’s score.
“New original songs by me for Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi,” Charli XCX wrote. “In theatres February 14th. Happy early Valentine’s.” That Valentine’s Day release date is telling, positioning the film as a date night destination for cinemagoers.
Fennell, known for her provocative directorial work, seems perfectly positioned to bring a contemporary edge to the Victorian romance. A pairing of Robbie and Elordi, two famously appealing stars, creates considerable anticipation, with their on-screen chemistry already evident in the brief teaser footage.
The addition of Charli XCX’s music adds an extra contemporary layer to the period adaptation, too. Like Fennell’s Jacob Elordi and Barry Keoghan-starring 2023 hit Saltburn, it looks like a bridge of classical, almost gothic sensibilities with 21st century sexual tension you could cut with a knife. (Alec Jones)

From Collider:

The trailer introduces the Gothic setting of Wuthering Heights, in addition to the people who live there across two generations. Set mostly in the late 18th century, Brontë's story follows the intertwining Earnshaw and Linton families, two clans of landed gentry who call the moors their home. There, the story of Heathcliff and Catherine unfolds, one filled with passion and whirlwind romance marred by the constant abuse Heathcliff receives and the lowborn status he holds. Their ill-fated love twists into something darker and shapes the future of both families through obsession and revenge, with the effects lingering even after the couple is gone. All of it is shaped by the stark and atmospheric moors that act as if they were a character in the story itself. (Ryan O'Rourke)

From ScreenRant:

This trailer proves once and for all that, even though Wuthering Heights is a period piece, it will still take a similar approach to previous Emerald Fennell movies, which have generally had more modern sensibilities. From the glimpse that the teaser gives, it seems that it most resembles 2023's Saltburn.
This is thanks to the ornate production design of the grand home displayed in one memorable shot, the way the camera lingers on Jacob Elordi, and the juxtaposition of "proper" English society and urgent sensuality. [...]
While Wuthering Heights feels of a piece with Promising Young Woman and Saltburn, this trailer also implies that the movie has a similar feel to Baz Luhrmann's 2013 feature The Great Gatsby, another adaptation of a classic novel that featured exaggerated imagery and a modern soundtrack.
If Wuthering Heights can capture that same essence, it could potentially become a major critical and commercial hit. (Brennan Klein)

AV Club describes it as 'Emerald Fennell plays "How horny can we make this?" with Wuthering Heights teaser'.

Here is a brief list of things that writer-director Emerald Fennell takes a stab at making horny in the first teaser for her new adaptation of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, presented in no particular order: Kneading dough, baling hay, squishing eggs, sticking your finger into the mouth of a jellied fish, playing with riding crops, crawling, and, right at the margins, actual, genuine fucking. Set to a Brat track from Charli xcx (who’s also providing original songs for the film), the teaser goes hard on evocative imagery, lots of shots of Margot Robbie lost in a sort of erotic haze, and smoldering looks from co-star Jacob Elordi. (William Hughes)

From Empire:

Out on the wily, windy moors (or, to be more specific, the Yorkshire Dales) Emerald Fennell has been hard at work bringing her take on Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights to life. But now, with the cameras having stopped rolling on the provoc-auteur's follow-up to spicy satire Saltburn and the movie's wickedly slated Valentine's release inching ever closer, we are finally getting our first proper look at what Fennell and her Cathy and Heathcliff — Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi — have been cooking up. And if the first trailer for her Gothic romance is anything to go by, Fennell's about to make Saltburn look like Downton Abbey. [...]
All-new, original Charli XCX bangers on the soundtrack. Sweaty palms. Finger sucking. Whips cracking. Folk crawling about on all fours. Some innuendous business involving egg yolk. This sure ain't your ma's Wuthering Heights, and the quotation marks that have been slapped around the title treatment for Fennell's film certainly feel well placed on present evidence. Sure, the themes of Bronte's book — passion, revenge, obsession — all simmer away in this vibes-heavy, plot-light first teaser, but the salacious edge and erotic charge of this Wuthering Heights is distinctly and devilishly Emerald Fennell's own. How exactly the filmmaker is planning to adapt and/or reimagine the tempestuous — and tragic — love affair between Elordi's Heathcliff and Robbie's Cathy here very much remains to be seen at this stage. Even without an official synopsis though, the low-key ominousness of Elordi's "Do you want me to stop?" and the submissive "No" it's met with from Robbie at the end of this trailer certainly don't suggest there'll be too many happy endings to be found here. *Ahem* (Jordan King)

From Consequence Film it is 'horny-looking'.

The new teaser trailer, released Wednesday, features the Charli XCX song “Everything Is Romantic” as well as the promise of much horniness between the film’s two leads. (Liz Shannon Miller)

The Hollywood Reporter describes the trailer as Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi getting 'close and personal'. Variety's headline is 'Jacob Elordi Seduces Margot Robbie in Erotic Footage'. Vulture seems to have copped onto the fact that this is more the director's vision of the novel rather than a shot at a standard adaptation.

When you’re in a state of amorous delusion, everything is romantic, which is perhaps why Emerald Fennell uses Charli XCX’s “everything is romantic” featuring Caroline Polachek to set the scene in the first teaser trailer for her adaptation of Wuthering Heights. Margot Robbie, playing Cathy, zones out reminiscing on tactile memories — hands kneading dough, a rippling back, a finger slipping into a fish’s mouth — as she loses herself to the memories of Heathcliff, played here by a bearded and dirty Jacob Elordi.
The first glances at the film had people decrying the actors’ ages and costumes, but it’s immediately clear from the contemporary needle drop that Fennell is not doing any old regular Brontë adaptation. She’s taking one of history’s most lush and twisted Gothic romances and making it even more lush and twisted and Gothic and, yes, romantic. More remarkable than the overt horniness is the styling: Fennell appears to have significantly upped her game when it comes to flamboyant costuming (Robbie in particular wears several gigantic gowns — in one shot with red-lens sunglasses) and massive, highly decorated sets alongside the haunted, rainy moors. The film is slated for a Valentine’s Day release, so start lacing up your corset now. (Fran Hoepfner)

The most original--and enthusiastic--approach comes from Vogue and its '21 Thoughts I Had While Watching the Brand-New Teaser for Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights'.

There are so many thoughts to be had about the little scraps of information we’ve been given so far about Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Wuthering Heights, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi (remember the early shots of Robbie’s possibly anachronistic wedding dress?). But now, we’ve finally been given some proper food in the form of a 90-second teaser trailer.
Here, without further ado, find every single thought I had about the new Wuthering Heights trailer:
Am I the only one who constantly croons Kate Bush’s “Wuthering Heights” in my head—against my will and at top volume—whenever this movie is brought up?
HEATHCLIFF! IT’S MEEEE, I’M KATHYYY [sic], I’VE COME HOME!
Okay, sorry, I’m done.
For now.
Okay, I cannot lie; I watched 10 full seconds of what turned out to be very much a fan edit thinking it was the actual trailer, but now we’re back on track.
Margot, drop the blush rec, because the apples of those cheeks are poppin’.
I will never get enough slow, intense shots of hands kneading bread.
Let alone set to “Everything is romantic” by Charli XCX!
This is, perhaps, the best use of Charli XCX’s oeuvre in recent memory—and I am extremely including Kamala Harris’s 2024 presidential campaign.
Jacob Elordi’s wig wrangler, take a bow.
His mutton-chop stylist, however…resign.
OMG, this pop of red cloak!
It’s not an Emerald Fennell joint if nobody’s crawling sexily.
“Do you want me to stop?” “No.”
Oh, honey, I am seated.
As is one of my coworkers, whose name shall be withheld but whose comment was: “This looks way better than I expected.”
It’s going to be a Fennell Fall, I fear!
Well, actually, the movie comes out on Valentine’s Day 2026, so maybe “Emerald Winter” has a better ring to it.
To quote Tina Fey on Las Culturistas: “Then Act Three takes a sexually violent turn, and you have to pretend to be surprised by that turn!”
Emerald, my brightly shining diamond, I pledge to be forever surprised by that turn.
Is anyone really surprised that I’m perilously excited for this movie? I even stanned Promising Young Woman, for God’s sake! (Emma Specter)

Marie Claire claims to be 'Beside Ourselves Over The New ‘Wuthering Heights’ Trailer'.

Call into work sick because the new trailer for Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights film adaptation starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi just dropped and it’s certain to make you all kinds of unwell.
The first full length trailer was released today and netizens are screaming, crying, throwing up over the sheer horniness of it all.
With stars like Margot and Jacob, the chemistry between the undeniably stunning duo was always going to be delicious, but this new teaser takes things to a whole new level.
In the clip we see Catherine (played by Margot) utterly besotted by Heathcliff (Elordi) and while we certainly can’t blame her, it’s bordering on crazed.
The adaptation, as far as we can tell, stays true to Fenell’s “operatic, and sometimes outrageous” signature style, reminiscent of the depravity and debauchery we saw unfold in her hit film, Saltburn.
There’s intense, close up visuals of hands needing dough and fingers, well, everywhere from mouths to inside fish and running through eggs. It’s messy, suggestive and sometimes uncomfortable.
If the visuals and palpable tension between our two leads wasn’t enough to tip you over the edge, there’s always Elordi uttering the words “Do you want me to stop”. (Maddison Hockey)

Daily Mail focuses on the Charli XCX aspect.

Charli XCX has shared a first look at Emerald Fennell's 'aggressively provocative' upcoming movie Wuthering Heights on Instagram on Wednesday.
The singer, 33, revealed she is soundtracking the raunchy new movie, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, which is set to hit cinemas this Valentine's Day on February 14.
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'
Fans went into a frenzy in the comments after Charli announced she is bringing out new music for the movie.
Some wrote: 'Two of my fav artists together. This is insane❤️', 'OMG CHARLI',
'this insane crossover omg', 'Literally when did u find the time to do this !!! queen of working',
'Can we get the soundtrack already', 'WOOOOOOOOOOOOO'. (Lily Jobson)

Inevitably, some news outlets clearly looking for pointless (and mindless) controversy go to the X-perts for their elaborated, academic opinions. Bollywood Shaadis:

On X (formerly Twitter), the post featuring the Wuthering Heights trailer and premiere announcement went viral within hours, as evidenced by the numerous reactions posted by netizens. One user commented, “I never read the book, but like as it always giving steamy romance?!?!” Another wrote, “What in the 50 shades of grey is this?” A third user added, “Emily Bronte absolutely turning in her grave over this slop.”
Adding to the fury, most netizens don’t seem happy with Fennell’s choice of Charli XCX for the film’s songs. One X user commented, “And a Charli song on top of that... Emerald Fennell, you will pay for your crimes.” A second user chimed in:
“This would be much more promising without Charli XCX music already dating it to sound like it was made in the 2015s. Ugh. You could have done anything with the music. Imagine this with a real string orchestra instead of a TikTok music snippet.” (Riddhika Das)

It is our opinion that Emily Brontë, in her grave, couldn't care less about the film one way or another.

The Mirror (US):

The trailer for the latest adaptation of Wuthering Heights has sparked a flurry of reactions online, with some viewers excited and others horrified by its provocative imagery.
The montage includes traditional scenes interspersed with more risqué shots: a shirtless Jacob handling hay in a stable, Margot's Catherine slipping her fingers into Jacob's mouth, and even a woman having horse tack placed on her face.
"It's worse than you could ever imagine," one Twitter user wrote in response to the trailer's release. "This looks and feels garish and tacky as s--t lmao god bless," another commented, while a third demanded, "someone take away emerald fennell's directing license i'm so serious." (Zoe Delaney, Mia O'Hare and Kathleen O'Boyle)

Are we truly giving voice and amplifying and validating the thoughts of people who can't even write properly? Talk about taking licences away...

Independent has joined that party too:

Fans still don’t seem particularly taken with the film after the teaser release, with descriptions of it on social media calling it “visually pretty but entirely hollow & wrong”.
“Not to be that one friend who is too woke but bleaching the class and racial otherness out of wuthering heights to sell a horny whitewashed romance genuinely pisses me off,” one person wrote on X.
Another wrote: “Emily Bronte is rising from her grave as we speak because why did they turn Wuthering Heights into fifty shades of Heathcliff and Cathy.” (Shahana Yasmin)