WUTHERING HEIGHTS: A SHALLOW ADAPTATION UNDER ITS STRIKING SURFACE
BY LAUREN STIDHAM PHOTO COURTESY OF TM & © 2026 WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT INC. All rights reserved.
Emerald Fennell's new adaptation of Emily Brontë’s timeless gothic novel Wuthering Heights depicted its own take on the complex relationship between Brontë’s characters Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, but ultimately ended up feeling less like a valued interpretation of the tale and more like a glorified rendition of the destructive romance.
Fennell used quotations around “Wuthering Heights” in her movie title, and said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, “I knew right from the get-go I couldn't ever hope to make anything that could even encompass the greatness of this book. So, all I could do was… make a movie that made me feel the way the book made me feel.” But it seems the feeling Fennell felt while reading the novel heavily contrasts the feeling felt by various Brontë fanatics; so, it is no surprise that long-time fans of the fiction are feeling downcast upon leaving the theatre.
The most notable disappointment in the adaptation is the casting. Heathcliff’s character in the novel is the outsider, stemming from racism and classism within the Earnshaw family and the overall time period. In the original text of Wuthering Heights, published in 1847, Brontë wrote, “But Mr. Heathcliff forms a singular contrast to his abode and style of living. He is a dark-skinned gipsy in aspect, in dress and manners a gentleman.”
He is explicitly described as a “dark-skinned” man, and when a reporter asked Fennell about her decision to cast the white Hollywood heartthrob, Jacob Elordi, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, she managed to evade the question, ultimately saying it was how she envisioned the novel and “there are so many different takes.”
It is nearly impossible to make viewers feel that Jacob Elordi is an outsider in any way. Elordi, alongside his co-star Margot Robbie, is one of the most desirable movie stars in the industry, and it made it hard to see this separation and truly step into the story of Catherine and Heathcliff. The casting decision, mixed with the overall erotic attitude of the film, makes it feel Fennell didn’t understand many critical thematic elements of Brontë’s work, and instead it was a stage for Elordi and Robbie to exchange a slew of steamy love scenes.
Objectively, the movie had stunning visuals and an emotionally stirring ending; but, a book-to-film adaptation is subjective in nature, and it's hard to personally align with the direction Fennell took in her overtly sexual and provocative rendition that she called, inspired by “the greatest love story of all time.” I don’t think that tension and steam have a place in the story — Heathcliff and Catherine's love story was steeped in jealousy and longing — but it felt shallow and tailored to Hollywood’s newfound search for spicy romances rather than an exploration of the complex connection between the two characters.
“It begins where it ends and ends where it begins," Fennell said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. "And that's the thing about love, and it's the thing about the book, right? It's that it's forever and it's cyclical, and so there's no stop — even when there's a terrible, sad, tragic stop, it's not really a stop — because that's what the book feels so much about."
The cyclical ending, where viewers are taken back to Catherine and Heathcliff as children, inserted a tenderness between the two characters, and I feel this aspect of Fennell’s adaptation held a majority of the emotional value and the young actor’s performances were some of the most moving in the film. Yet, looking at this ending in relation to the entirety of Brontë’s story, it feels unaligned with the gothic and ruinous soul of the tale.
Brontë’s novel deals with infatuation, obsession, and the extent of cruelty that stems from reckless passion, and these themes feel heavily underdeveloped throughout the film. We see excerpts of the main characters’ jealous and irrational behaviors, but the extent to which Heathcliff dives headfirst into vengeance upon returning to Wuthering Heights is replaced with a string of provocative sex scenes that ultimately degrade the complicated tale.
Its set and costume design felt like a storybook, Alice in Wonderland-esque lens of the gothic novel, and the surrealist nature contributed to the visual appeal of the film. Catherine’s room at Thrushcross Grange and the overall set design of the gaudy manor were campy and dramatized, and one of the more interesting parts of the film. The acting was objectively good as well, with supporting roles such as Alison Oliver, who played the role of Catherine, and Martin Clunes, who played Mr. Earnshaw, delivering quality performances.
If you are looking for a visually appealing and sexy spin loosely based on Brontë’s original novel, give the movie a try, but if you are a long-time fan of Wuthering Heights, don’t be surprised if you feel this film falls flat.
