So, Your Teen Wants To Watch Wuthering Heights: A Parent's Guide To The Controversial Movie

Before adapting Emily Brontë’s famed novel, director Emerald Fennell wrote down everything she remembered about reading Wuthering Heights as a teenager. Does this mean her 2026 film is suitable for teens?

Loosely based on Brontë’s 1847 book, Wuthering Heights follows a brash young woman named Catherine Earnshaw (Margot Robbie) and her close bond with the rugged Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi), who was taken in by her father as a child to be one of the family’s servants. Concerned about their class difference, and a betrayal by her companion and confidante, Nelly (Hong Chau), Catherine opts to marry the wealthy, Edgar (Shazad Latif), and embarks on a new life while yearning for Heathcliff, who is heartbroken and vengeful.

The film has received backlash over casting choices after Elordi was chosen to play a character many literary scholars assume to be not white. Fennell also drew criticism by adding sexual elements to an otherwise chaste plot. The Saltburn director told the Sunday Guardian that her goal with adapting Wuthering Heights into a film was to “create a world that felt like a teenage girl’s first acquaintance with a great work of art and a kind of visceral experience.” Thus, Fennell created a more intense, sexually charged version of Catherine and Heathcliff’s love story. So, who can watch it?

Is The ‘Wuthering Heights’ Movie Suitable For Teens?

Wuthering Heights is best suited to teens age 15+. It is rated R and contains violence, sex scenes, and bad language, but no nudity. Wuthering Heights is not suitable for younger teens.

Here’s a more detailed breakdown of what parents should be aware of before their teen watches the film.

Is ‘Wuthering Heights’ Sexual?

Yes, lust and primal sexuality is integral to the plot of Fennell’s film so there are lots of sexual elements, but nothing too explicit.

Masturbation is shown, a character watches two other characters have sex while using a horse bridle in a sort of BDSM act. There are a lot of scenes of Catherine and Heathcliff sticking fingers in each others mouths, licking one another, walls, and anything else.

There’s a consensual domination/submissive relationship that features non-graphic degradation.

Parents should also be warned about the depiction of a toxic relationship. Catherine and Heathcliff emotionally torment one another and there are several concerning elements, including stalking, that are portrayed as romantic.

Is There Nudity in ‘Wuthering Heights’?

Surprisingly, there’s no explicit nudity in Wuthering Heights. All of the sex scenes are performed clothed and corsets remain intact. Early in the film, the outline of an erection is shown through clothes.

Is There Violence and Explicit Language in ‘Wuthering Heights’?

There are several depictions of violence and plenty of explicit language throughout Wuthering Heights.

The film opens with a hanging and there are several deaths of characters shown, including graphic depictions involving blood. The film includes the sounds of severe physical child abuse and, in the aftermath, we see signs of injuries inflicted on the child.

In terms of explicit language, characters occasionally use words like “f—ing,” “bastard,” “bitch,” “a–hole.”