The classic gothic novel, Wuthering Heights, published in 1847 by Emily Brontë, follows the all-consuming and toxic love between Catherine Earnshaw and the mysterious foundling Heathcliff. The 2026 adaptation by Emerald Fennell released in early February 2026 is visually ‘all-consuming’ yet is not a replica of the original story.
The use of quotation marks in its title, “Wuthering Heights”, is a clear signal that it is simply a personal reinterpretation rather than a direct adaptation of Emily Brontë’s novel.
In the original novel, Emily Brontë describes Heathcliff as a “dark-skinned gypsy” and “dark almost as if it came from the devil”. In this version he is portrayed as foreign looking however, this does not come through in the 2026 adaptation, the young Heathcliff is portrayed by a white British boy (Owen Cooper), while the older depiction is played by white Australian man (Jacob Elordi) – this reminds us early on that this version of Wuthering Heights is Fennell’s own fantasy of the story.
Jacob Elordi is known for being ‘stereotypically beautiful’ tending to feature in movies as the mysterious love interest (Saltburn, Euphoria etc.), it is no doubt that as Fennel read the original novel herself she saw it through her own preferential gaze. Fennels usual preference when it comes to love interests is a white man, so obviously in her re – imagined take on the story she would cast a white man.
There is no doubt that director Emerald Fennel does not shy away from particularly memorable visuals, the controversial bath-tub scene from 2023’s Saltburn is still an awkward topic of discussion to this day, and some of the scenes from this movie are just as sticky. Closeups of sweat beads, freshly poured pig blood and some finger licking link closely to this director’s compulsion to induce shock by any means necessary no matter how disturbing.
In another major change from the book the film starts in a particularly gruesome way, with a faint moaning sound the audience is led to expect that it is being produced by either Catherine or Heathcliff ‘going at it’. However, as the scene appears it is apparent that it is a man that has been unsuccessfully hanged, and is now being strangled to death while a young Catherine Earnshaw (Charlotte Mellington) looks on from below. The heartless crowd begins to laugh and point as they notice the dying man has an erection – a relatively common physiological response due to lack of oxygen.
The scene quicky changes into a drunken and wild celebration, as spectators drink, dance and kiss in a square surrounding the flailing corpse, finally, including Cathy, the crowd roars as the man finally succumbs to his fate.
Here, the character Catherine is introduced with her pre-set ‘love’ for violence and being de-sensitised to death, despite that during the 18th century when the movie was set, when public executions were widely treated as a form of entertainment, it is still shocking to see such a young girl find so much joy in one’s pain foreshadowing that what is to come is equally as morbid, horny and uncomfortable.
In Brontës Wuthering heights, the setting of the Yorkshire moors is not just used as a backdrop but is a character, personified as wild and untamed that mirrors the passionate and destructive nature of Catherine and Heathcliff’s relationship. Finally, the moors “hold” the characters, as they are buried in the earth there having escaped the confinement of human judgement and society. In this new rendition which does not include this as the characters final resting place, leaves Catherine to die in a room she does not feel a close connection with, this may have been done on purpose to visualise that her character was never where she should have been, in the moors with Heathcliff.
One of the most controversial takes on this movie was in its casting, in the original novel during the period when Cathy is living with the Lintons, Brontë describes both Catherine and Heathcliff to be in their late teens. However, Margot Robbie (35) and Jacob Elordi (28) where casted, to put it simply, these actors are too old to be playing teenage characters, it is hard to understand why Fennel chose this unusual pair.
Isabella Linton, Sister of Edgar Linton was played by Alison Oliver (28), in the novel, she is tricked into a loveless marriage with Heathcliff, quickly realising that she has been taken as a fool and that her husband, she plainly stats is ‘akin to the devil’. The abuse she suffers is one of the earliest examples of Heathcliff’s rage and pursuit to get revenge for Cathys betrayal of marrying someone else.
In the movie however, Isabella is portrayed as childlike and seems to be included just for laughs instead of an actual piece of the plot. Even I had to laugh as Heathcliff tells her to her face that he will never love her and seeks only to marry her to punish Catherine, yet she still stands their doe-eyed, besotted to him.
Later in the movie she is seen chained up like a dog, seemingly taking an exotic thrill from this dynamic, gladly being supressed by Heathcliff as her master. A complete flip from the theme of domestic abuse to one of consensual BDSM making it a very uncomfortable watch.
One of my favourite parts of this film was the costuming, from the extravagant gowns to a golden tooth, the costumes in this movie are truly stunning to look at. Despite conversation that these pieces are not historically accurate for the late-28th-century in which this story takes place, these choices opt for emotional truth over historical accuracy. Catherine’s dresses from the outset are largely white with red detailing, most likely foreshadowing her bloody death.
Ultimately, this movie was never supposed to be a direct replica, of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights and it doesn’t owe us complete accuracy. Arguably some of the best book adaptations are those which keep the integral elements of the plot but give it something new. For example, Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 version of Romeo and Juliet set in Miami is a far cry from the original 1597 play but its tragic love still just as crushing as it is in Shakespeare’s text.
Fennell never stated that this would be an ‘accurate’ retelling of the novel, this movie is her own personal fantasy, she said as much in an interview for the LA premiere: “Everyone who loves this book has such a personal connection to it, and so you can only kind of ever make the movie that you sort of imagined yourself when you read it”.
