X-rated 'fish fingering' scene leaves Wuthering Heights viewers seriously divided

When filmmaker Emerald Fennell announced in 2024 that she'd cast Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi in a 'scandalous and intoxicating' adaptation of Wuthering Heights, fans expected nothing short of a perpetual sex fest.

After all, we're talking about the creator of the erotically dark hit Saltburn, which wasn't exactly a movie you could put on for the family at Christmas.

Apparently, however, following the release of the trailer for Fennell's modernised take on Emily Brontë's 1847 English classic, some fans have taken a grievance with one X-rated scene.

Some film fanatics have wondered whether said sexy moment was truly necessary, whilst others have slammed it as downright weird.

For those in need of a reminder, Wuthering Heights tells the 19th-century tale of two generations of landowning families living on the Yorkshire moors, specifically the relationship between Catherine Earnshaw (played by Robbie, 35) and Heathcliff (Elordi, 28).

Though the original novel isn't as sexually explicit as the likes of Fifty Shades of Grey, given the era of its release, it is a piece of literature famed for intense passion and is deeply charged with both mental obsession and longing.

So, when it came to the announcement of a silver screen adaptation - set to be released on 13 February - bookworms were neither surprised nor alarmed to hear that it would feature a handful of risqué moments.

What fans probably didn't have on their bingo card for the big-name blockbuster, however, was some fish finger-sucking foreplay.

As a reminder, one exchange whereby Robbie's fingers are pushed into Elordi’s mouth previously triggered a vastly mixed response, whilst another minuscule segment showed another individual sliding the same body part into the mouth of a dead fish.

One particularly unnerving scene involves a fish (Warner Bros.)

As we say, some fans of the original book have raised a grievance with the apparent fascination with the sexual shock factor, with some having questioned whether her inclusion of deliberately provocative scenes was wholly necessary.

"Was that really needed?" one X user asked about the fish-friendly scene, while another joked: "What the hake?"

"My favourite part of Wuthering Heights is when a character ….*checks notes*… fingers a fish???" a third jibed.

Another pointed out: "A lot of people (including maybe our friend Fennel) like Wuthering Heights without ever having actually read the book, and I wish these people understood Cathy and Heathcliff are not, 'Oh I stuck my finger in fish' freaky, they’re 'You died and so I dug up your corpse' freaky."

"Leave that fish alone you perv," a fifth begged.

However, audience members should expect to be surprised when they see Wuthering Heights, as Robbie told British Vogue that while people are expecting a 'very, very raunchy' film, it is 'more romantic than provocative', adding: "This is a big epic romance."