This is of course the latest of around 20 attempts since 1920 to adapt Emily Bronte’s 1847 proto-bodice-ripper to the screen.

Drunken noble father hires a scruffy young boy to be his lonely daughter Kathy’s companion. She names him Heathcliff. They grow up together and bond closely. Later, as young adults (Margo Robbie & Jacob Elordi), he flees on a misunderstanding about her feelings.

Faced with her family’s impending descent into poverty due to dad’s gambling, she marries a rich neighbor. Then things get sticky when Heathcliff returns a few years later, now a hunka hunka burnin’ love. Worse, he’s rich. Cue the heaving bosoms, the smoldering glares, the stolen moments of passion, and ripe-for- ripping bodices.

Actor/writer/director Emerald Fennell’s sensibilities and indulgences are not to everyone’s taste. I didn’t see Saltburn, as it wasn’t released in Japan, but found Promising Young Woman to be quite brilliant. Now, this overlong and overwrought tragic romance (more of a “based on” than a straight adaptation) is not helping.

None of the characters is remotely likeable, the anachronistic soundtrack is jarring, and there’s little chemistry between the leads, which is amazing when you’re working with two of the most beautiful humans on the planet.

I’m looking forward to Fennell’s next effort, and if you’re wondering if I watched it all the way through, I did. But it was a major slog. (136 min)