Wuthering Heights breaks the mold with Charli XCX-led soundtrack but fans aren't impressed
Wuthering Heights fans have been left divided over the announcement of Charli XCX's musical inclusion, with many it's abandoning its gothic roots in favour of 'Instagram aesthetics'
If most people were direct a Wuthering Heights adaptation, Charli XCX, aka 'Queen of BRAT', would probably not be first choice for a soundtrack - but Emerald Fennell's upcoming release seems hellbent on breaking the rules.
The film, starring Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie, has been kicking up its fair share of controversy online, especially after it was reported that the opening scene consists of a man ejaculating upon execution (which, for those who haven't read the book, definitely isn't canon). Now, the first release of its trailer has upset some fans, who claim it's being turned into another 'Saltburn'.
During the trailer, scenes of the two leads passionately kissing were undercut by Charli XCX's unmistakably auto-tuned vocals singing: "Fall in love again and again", before revealing that the singer will be contributing original songs towards the film.
The news has been met with mixed reactions on social media, with some upset that the movie appears to be straying so far from its moody literary roots in favour of pandering to pop culture. One X user wrote: "This isn’t gothic romance, it’s Instagram aesthetics playing dress-up". Meanwhile, a viral tweet summed it up as "the matcha dubai chocolate labubu of film".
Last month, the film received similar backlash in the aftermath of its first screening in Dallas, Texas, where, as reported by World of the Reel, audience reactions were “largely mixed” – with some “visible restlessness” thrown in.
One viewer described the film as “aggressively provocative and tonally abrasive” and even suggested a link to the “stylised depravity” seen in Emerald’s previous big screen hit, Saltburn, which sparked discourse over its graphic sexual scenes.
The movie reportedly opens with a public hanging in which the “condemned man ejaculates mid-execution”. This apparently sends the crowd into an orgy-like “frenzy” while a nun “fondles the corpse’s visible erection” (which does somewhat evoke Saltburn’s infamous graveyard scene).
The film goes on to portray a “BDSM-tinged” encounter, several “clinical” masturbation scenes and a splurge of "hyper-sexualised" imagery through things like running egg yolks, aggressive dough kneading and a slug close-up. Just as Bronte envisioned.
While the film isn’t set to be released in the US until February 2026, news of the test screening has spread like wildfire through BookTok – and Wuthering Heights fans aren’t too happy.
One TikToker, who said they didn’t “even feel comfortable reading [the review] out loud”, insisted that their criticism of the movie’s alleged contents wasn’t about “purity culture”. In her caption, she wrote: “It seems the Emerald Fennel’s Wuthering Heights film adaptation seems a little insecure about being able to portray how disturbing the story is subtly”.
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Commenters were largely in agreement, adding that they thought these scenes sounded “cheap” and were only added for shock value. One commenter wrote: “Wuthering Heights is not an erotic book at all. Cathy and Heathcliffe’s love is minimally sexual at best, she is doing this purely for shock factor…”
“Gothic literature was about transgression through disturbance. Bizarre and cheap attempts to generate shock is not transgression,” a second added.
It even seems to have put others off watching the movie entirely. “This is my favourite book ever…I will not be watching this movie omg…was already disappointed with the casting but this is so much worse than I imagined,” one wrote.
Others even felt she was simply trying to hold onto the “Saltburn hype”. One user said: “I swear she just saw how people reacted to Saltburn and decided to try and recreate the hype.”
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