Overview
- The film is now playing in Australia following a fan-packed Sydney premiere, with an exclusive theatrical release beginning February 13 in other markets.
- First-wave reviews are sharply divided, with The Telegraph calling it a five-star thrill ride and The Guardian dismissing it as emotionally hollow.
- Fennell presents the movie as an interpretive version—signaled by quotation marks in the title—removing major elements including Hindley and much of the novel’s latter half.
- The adaptation foregrounds explicit sexuality and visceral imagery, pairing stylized visuals with Anthony Willis’s score and contemporary songs from Charli XCX.
- Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi’s casting fuels debate over fidelity and representation, as accent experts praise Elordi’s Yorkshire delivery and find Robbie’s serviceable though uneven.