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. But Catherine feels pressure to marry their wealthy neighbor Edgar Linton (Shazad Latif), in order to save her family from financial ruin caused by her father’s various addictions.…