Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights is the latest one of Hollywood’s book-to-screen adaptations that reimagines Emily Brontë classic novel. If you’ve seen it, you know there’s quite a lot of misfortune to go around among the characters, but who wins the pity party? We asked two stars. SPOILERS AHEAD.
When CinemaBlend’s Hannah Saulic spoke to Shazad Latif and Alison Oliver about who they think has it worse among the Lintons in the fallout of Heathcliff and Cathy’s toxic relationship, they weighed in. Check out what they had to say:
Shazad Latif: “I mean, what Isabella goes through is pretty tough.”
Alison Oliver: “Well… you.”
Shazad Latif: “Oh no, I know, but…”
Alison Oliver: “It’s pretty brutal.”
Shazad Latif: “The dog collar of it all, you know?”
Alison Oliver: “Yeah. I don’t know.”
Shazad Latif: “I think we’re both unlucky.”
Alison Oliver: “Yeah, we’ve not done very well. But also, you know, I don't know. I think [Cathy and Heathcliff] also— They also have such a tough time as well. Everyone has a bit of a tough time in the end.”
Is “all of the above” an option? As they point out, everyone in the storyline has it pretty bad when we get to the Wuthering Heights ending. Between Edgar and Isabella, the actors couldn’t decide which was worse with Latif bringing up the “dog collar of it all” whilst Edgar has obviously lost his wife and his unborn child. Latif also brought up how the Lintons have it bad, but Heathcliff and Cathy might have it worse considering one of them has died and the other has lost the other.
They were both ultimately used by Cathy and Heathcliff for different reasons. On Cathy’s end, she married him to gain wealth and because she thought she needed to marry a man of status as her family’s fame was getting disgraced due to her alcoholic father. Heathcliff, on the other hand, asked Isabella to marry him because he knew it would make Cathy jealous.
During the conversation, we also asked Latif where he thinks Edgar goes from there. In his words:
I think he probably needs to find Isabella again because she's gone off somewhere and they just need to reassess and process what's happened… But, definitely not straight back in the house. Maybe go on a little holiday somewhere. Take a break, you know?
That sounds about right. They probably need a change of scenery from those dire English Moors where what has happened since they moved there is enough to drive a person mad. When we asked Emerald Fennell about what she thinks happens to Heathcliff after the credits roll in her version, she suggested he’ll be living a “kind of half-life” after Cathy’s death.
Wuthering Heights marks Shazad Latif’s biggest film since being in The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in 2015 alongside Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel. He’s been more prominent in television where he played Voq in Star Trek: Discovery and Amazon Prime series Nautilus. Oliver on the other hand was previously in Saltburn with Fennell as her director and in HBO’s Task.
The movie, often mistaken for an epic romance despite all the toxicity and tragedy involved, had a big win at the box office over Valentine’s Day weekend after polarizing opinions among critics (check out our Wuthering Heights review) and a “B” CinemaScore. You can check it out in theaters for yourself now.
