Published May 1, 2026, 2:30 p.m. ET

Emerald Fennell leaves audiences shivering in antici… pation in her new take on Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel, Wuthering Heights , which began streaming on HBO Max today. In fact, the lead-up to the sex in the new Wuthering Heights movie is so delicious—so scorching hot— that the actual sex scenes feel like a bit of a let down.

Written and directed by Fennell, the 2026 Wuthering Heights movie was marketed as sexy, outlandish, and downright scandalous. Oscar-nominated actress Margot Robbie stars as Catherine Earnshaw, the daughter of a wealthy, land-owning English family, who falls in love with her family’s lower-class foster son, Heathcliff (played by Jacob Elordi, who also starred in Fennell’s Saltburn ). The attraction between Catherine and Heathcliff is palpable.…