A review of Emerald Fennell’s adaption of Wuthering Heights
Like many other English literature students, I went to see the highly anticipated Wuthering Heights adaptation over reading week, with a bit of skepticism. I highly doubted that Emerald Fennell’s 2026 adaption of the classic novel would measure up to the original work, and it did fall short. The film was marketed as the “greatest love story of all time,” and I believe they disregarded some of the more difficult parts of the forbidden romance in this approach.
Visually, this movie is stunning. Similar to many other Emerald Fennell films’, both the costuming and the landscapes in “Wuthering Heights” truly makes the film mesmerizing to watch. Accompanied with the soundtrack by artist Charli xcx, the atmosphere of the film is intriguing.
Prior to the movie being released, there was a lot of debate on the internet surrounding the casting of Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff. This casting choice sparked a lot of controversy because Heathcliff is canonically known as a person of colour, and he faces discrimination and social exclusion due to ambiguous racial identity. Emily Brontë describes Heathcliff in the novel as a “dark-skinned gypsy.” It may be fair to assume Brontë did not have someone who looked like Elordi in mind while she was writing.The casting team’s choice to cast a white man removes a level of meaning to the exclusion. In the original novel, Heathcliff is meant to face the rigid social class structures of the time, which is impossible to portray with this casting choice.
Additionally, the film ends with Cathy’s death, which is different from the novel. In the novel, readers continue to follow Heathcliff as he enacts his revenge against those who have harmed him, leading him to fall further into madness. Ultimately, I believe that when Fennell was framing the novel as a love story, it made more sense for the movie to end when Catherine passed away, like many other tragic romance adaptations. This artistic choice to leave out the second half of the book, also allows viewers to create a future in their mind where Heathcliff preserves.
Ultimately, Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” was unable to capture the emotional depth and larger themes of the novel, but it was still a fun watch. If viewers are to separate the movie from the classic novel, they will be able to enjoy it for what it is — a romance movie. Furthermore, perhaps the film will inspire audiences to read the original novel and engage with classical literature.
My official rating – ⅗ stars