riatambekar “He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” – Catherine Earnshaw
After relentlessly contemplating whether to rent Wuthering Heights (2026) on Amazon Prime, I gave in to my instincts and somehow decided that this movie would make for the ultimate date night ice-breaker. And it was safe to say, 30 minutes in… I turned it off.
First of all, I’ve never read the book. I purely gave into the Instagram hype surrounding the film and the utterly mind-blowing chemistry of Jacob Elordi (Heathcliff) and Margot Robbie (Catherine). So the dark themes, the wild obsession, and the sheer intensity were way beyond what I had imagined. I’m all for classics, but this felt like an exaggerated, almost overwhelming version, at least from my 30-minute watch.
However, the next day my father found out I had rented the movie (his account, unfortunately) and asked me for a review. When I told him I couldn’t get past half an hour, he took it upon himself to finish it- if we paid for it, we’re using it. Glass half full, I guess.
After an hour or so, he texts me saying, not a great movie, very dark and might not be relevant today.
And that got me thinking…Was it relevant today?
I don’t expect my father to understand the whole goth, brooding aesthetic of it all, but the relevance, that was a good question. So the next day, I sat through the movie, thanks to my father who piqued my interest (and also mild guilt), but I still wasn’t a huge fan.
Throughout the movie, I started to look for that relevancy factor. Does today’s generation believe in forbidden love like that of Heathcliff, a worker, and Catherine, an upper-class member? Honestly, not really. Today, we’re more go-getters. Labels like caste, class, even gender- those lines are blurring. We believe in the right person, not the “right background.”
But there was the other factor of yearning.
Does our generation yearn? Hell yes. We have romanticised the art of yearning, from afar, from the next table, or even something as simple as sitting beside them. I think that’s one of the reasons why the movie works. Having a fictional character pine over someone to a limit where life itself becomes unbearable, that’s the kind of love that doesn’t come by easily. It’s the thought of yearning, rather than actually doing something about it, that makes stories like this go from zero to hundred.
With finding people to date or fool around at the tip of your thumb and swiping right and left solely based on a few photos, our generation has forgotten what it’s like to truly pine over someone, day in and day out, until breathing feels difficult.
So I do think the movie is relevant today, not because of its themes or the character differences, but solely because of the chemistry. The kind of yearning that today’s generation craves but doesn’t often experience.
Also, the factor of a third person, in this case Nelly, trying to sabotage a relationship. In real life, that can be an ex, a friend, or literally anyone. The list is endless. Throughout the movie, I had rage fuming in me for her, and a soft corner for Edgar Linton.
Safe to say: I loved the chemistry.
But the storyline and plot? Not really my thing.
And one thing’s for sure-
I know I wouldn’t be as forgiving as Catherine if someone tried to meddle.
