The first trailer for Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights has been released, and it’s already proving to be a very divisive reimagining of Emily Brontë’s original novel. From the casting of the main characters to the very first images that were released of the shoot, there have been complaints that Fennell’s project wasn’t being faithful enough to the source material.

Those concerns have only been heightened through the release of Wuthering Heights‘ trailer. There has been a major uproar since then based around everything from the romance between Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi’s characters to Charli XCX’s modern songs betraying the Victorian setting of the beloved story.

From the anachronistic music to the subtle subversion of the book’s themes, it seems clear that Emerald Fennell isn’t planning a simple Wuthering Heights adaptation. The trailer seems to suggest that something darker and more unexpected is happening behind the scenes.

Judging by Fennell’s previous filmography, this will probably come in the form of a game-changing third-act twist. I think I’ve figured out what she has in mind with this modernized veneer.

Wuthering Heights’ Quotation Marks Suggest The Movie Happens In Cathy’s Head

There have been several interesting theories about exactly what twist Fennell’s Wuthering Heights is hiding, but perhaps the most fascinating option is that it is happening entirely within Cathy’s mind. This would explain why certain details don’t quite add up with the source material, as Cathy is inserting herself into this narrative – perhaps to escape the mundanity of modern love.

A huge clue that points towards Wuthering Heights having a hidden agenda is the тιтle, which is written inside quotation marks on the official poster and trailer. This suggests that we’re not seeing the “real” Wuthering Heights, but rather a fabricated version that “Cathy” has dreamt up to fulfil her own traditional romantic fantasy.

Fennell’s movies are typically brimming with social commentary, and Wuthering Heights may be using its classic Hollywood aesthetic (as displayed in the familiar poster) to make a statement on the way society’s perception of love and romance has changed over the years. The pure, enduring concept of love that Emily Bronte writes about in Wuthering Heights isn’t what we see in media anymore – perhaps Cathy is simply chasing it.

So for as much as the first trailer for Wuthering Heights has sparked major controversy online, the criticisms could prove to be preemptive if this theory is correct. It wouldn’t be a movie that’s strictly adapting the iconic piece of literature, but rather a modern woman searching for love placing herself within a story she knows well.

The quotation marks around the Wuthering Heights тιтle in all marketing materials suggest it’s far too early to judge Fennell’s movie. The director has never been one to take the easy or conventional route in her stories, so it’d make more sense for her to keep that up than make a straightforward adaptation.