Emerald Fennell's hotly anticipated reinvention of Wuthering Heights, starring Australian A-listers Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie, has divided film critics ahead of its release this Valentine's weekend.

Emily Brontë's gothic tale of passion, obsession and revenge follows the affair between the free-spirited, wilful Cathy and the tortured but cruel Heathcliff.

The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw described the new screen adaptation as an "emotionally hollow, bodice-ripping misfire" in a two-star review.

But there was much more enthusiasm from the Telegraph's Robbie Collin, who awarded a maximum five stars, lauding it as "resplendently lurid, oozy and wild."

The movie has been attracting attention and some controversy since it was first announced, over its casting and apprently BDSM-inspired scenes.