PopMatters reviews Charli XCX's Wuthering Heights album: (8 out of 10) As a work, this Wuthering Heights album is definitely evocative and occasionally cerebral, urging listeners to engage with its dramatic chordal changes with agitation and high alert. A cosy Frank Sinatra album, such as the cosy Sunday afternoonish Come Dance With Me!, it is not. (...) Inside or outside the Brontëverse, “My Reminder” has a bounciness that merits standalone listening. Surfeited with playful drum patterns, the vocals wrap tightly to the fuzzing see-saw keyboard undulating beneath the song. (Eoghan Lyng)
Daily Mirror asks Joelle Owusu-Sekyere, Editorial Director at Penguin Random House (and Brontë 'expert') who is not at all impressed with Emerald Fennell's take on Emily Brontë's book: Her post-mortem is simple. She told the Mirror: “For those with short attention spans who prefer aesthetics and moody romance over moral complexity? Four stars. For people who’ve read the book? Deep frustration. Two stars.” (...) “With her take on Wuthering Heights, Fennell delivers exactly that - a highly stylised, divisive, aesthetically intoxicating spectacle. What she doesn’t deliver is an adaptation of Wuthering Heights. And that’s the problem. (...) “It was frankly cringe watching Robbie and Elordi deliver teenage dialogue that felt painfully modern in the mouths of 18th-century characters. Robbie, in particular, could have benefited from longer sessions with a dialect coach.” (...) However, one thing seems to be agreed upon. Elordi’s brilliance as a leading hunk. Owusu-Sekyere said the Kissing Booth star “shines as a leading man, sporting a surprisingly decent Yorkshire accent and carrying the film’s brooding physicality well.” (...) “Yes, the film is emotional. In the final five minutes, as the montage swelled and the score soared, I saw women around me wiping away tears. It’s easy to win over an audience with perfectly spliced childhood-to-adulthood flashbacks and a rousing orchestral score. “But I couldn’t help wondering how many were waiting for the gothic haunting that never arrived. The biggest omission - and the one that left me genuinely baffled - is the ghost.” (...) “Turning Isabella, a victim of domestic abuse in the novel, into a quirky BDSM sub is certainly… a choice. “I’m not a purist. I love when filmmakers turn text into immersive 3D worlds but here, the elevation feels superficial and deliberately hollow. The infuriatingly unlikeable characters and obsessive brutality that makes Wuthering Heights endure has been replaced with ‘#vibes’. (Emilia Randall)
We really lolled at this Daily Mash Brontë expert advice: Professor Helen Archer said: “We forget the context in which the Brontë’s were writing. Everyone then was shorter, so Heathcliff would have been towering at 5ft 6in – exactly the height of Mr Sunak.” “Scholars have struggled to pinpoint the character’s ethnic background, but evidence such as dark eyes, dark hair and a chapter in the original manuscript where he cooks a biryani point to his being Punjabi Indian. “The cruelty and animalistic passion of Heathcliff must be balanced with the instincts that earned him a fortune in Victorian England, so he would have the clipped, nerdy intonation of a former analyst at Goldman Sachs. (...) “So yes, all the evidence suggests Margot Robbie should have been making out with the member for Richmond and Northallerton. But Hollywood predictably ignores this because nobody could wank over that smarmy twat.”
Diario de León, for some reason, asks the socialite Carmen Lomana her opinion on the Emerald Fennell's film: «Siempre que vas a ver una película basada en un libro, sales desilusionado si esperas que cada acción sea igual», sostiene. Para ella, el error no está necesariamente en la adaptación, sino en la expectativa. La directora del film (recuerda) ha realizado una reinterpretación, no una copia literal. Y eso exige aceptar que el cine tiene su propia narrativa visual. Donde sí se muestra más contundente es en el apartado estético. La primera parte de la película le convence. Destaca la atmósfera gótica, la lluvia constante, los paisajes agrestes que reflejan la intensidad emocional del relato. Esa Inglaterra oscura y ventosa conecta, a su juicio, con el espíritu borrascoso de la obra. Sin embargo, cuando la protagonista cambia de estatus social, algo se rompe. Aparecen dorados excesivos, una decoración que le resulta demasiado barroca, más cercana al siglo XVIII que a la segunda mitad del XIX. Y entonces dispara una de las frases más comentadas: «Parece un pastelón de Disney». ( Patricia De La Torre) (Translation)
Cumbres Borrascosas mantiene viva la confrontación y el debate en la relación entre Catherine y Heathcliff, que despliega, como en un campo de batalla, las clases sociales y las pulsiones íntimas, también limitadas, algo esperable en esta directora. Robbie le aporta a Catherine sensaciones que oscilan entre la fragilidad y la crueldad, mientras Elordi encarna un Heathcliff menos espectral y más humano, mucho más frágil, atrapado en la contradicción entre deseo y resentimiento. La película insiste en que el amor aquí no es redentor; sino destructivo: un vínculo que corroe y arrastra hasta morir. Juzguen ustedes. (Daniel Rojas Chía) (Translation)
One thing that Fennell always gets right is the aesthetic and overall palette of her films and Wuthering Heights was no different. It was delicious, a feast for the eyes and I was captivated. One scene in particular in which Cathy finds her drunken Father Mr Earnshaw (Martin Clune) deceased from his alcoholism surrounded by multitudes of oversized green bottles piled high was particularly well produced. The stylised opening of the film and gorgeous credits paired with Charlie XCX and John Cale's spoken word segments of House set the tone for the film; erotic, thrilling, and dramatic. Unfortunately, those were the only positives I took away from Wuthering Heights. The casting was very unfortunate and watching Elordi desperately attempt a Yorkshire accent as he bleated the words "Cath! Cath!" pulled me straight back out of the scenes. The soundtrack itself felt especially incongruous and provoked a feeling that was akin to watching an hour long Charlie XCX music video. The plot deviated greatly from the original story, almost so much I didn't even believe I was watching Wuthering Heights. (Emily-Maisy Milburn)
The production design by Suzie Davies is wonderful. Massive strawberries, the industrial nihilist vibe of Wuthering Heights, Cathy’s bedroom coloured in the shade of her skin (complete with veins and freckles) – all of it is screamingly camp and deliciously ghoulish. The blood decked floors and sconces made of grasping hands reaching for the sky are macabre and belong in a much darker movie. Then there is that exquisite dollhouse made to look like Thrushcross Grange complete with creepy little dolls of Cathy and Edgar (the scene where Isabella brutally murders Cathy’s doll is hysterical). Davies’ work is stunning and sure to be remembered at next year’s Oscars. “Wuthering Heights” is sumptuous, shallow, silly and utterly vanilla. A grand love story shorn of all darkness and complexity which fizzles briefly to life whenever Alison Oliver and Jacob Elordi share screentime. Emily Brontë would hate it, but younger viewers unfamiliar with the novel will find plenty to enjoy. (Naomi Roper)
Olivia gave a terrific performance as Jane at all stages and ages. Her bio in the programme said she “hopes to continue acting in the future”.Judging from the reception she received at the curtain call, it was clear many in the audience felt likewise, as must The Priory players. Olivia portrayed a range of emotions from fear and loneliness to joy and expectation.She projected well and conveyed the intensity and nuance of Jane’s feelings in every situation. (Charles Essex) ScreenRant publishes a Wuthering Heights family tree. Times Now News publishes a three-minute recap of the novel. Epicstream looks into previous adaptations of the novel. Espinof wonders why cinema always takes the easy way and cuts the second half of the novel. El Litoral tries to answer the question of why cinema always comes back to Emily Brontë's novel. Esquire debates the (bloody) ending of the film. More websites discussing the film: Diario Puntual (México), El Congresista (México)... It looks as if the box office results of the opening weekend of Wuthering Heights 2026 are just in and pretty good to boot. As reported by The Guardian: Wuthering Heights has ravished the global box office in its opening weekend, with the new Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie adaptation taking US$76.8m (£56m, A$108m). Emerald Fennell’s reimagining of Emily Brontë’s novel made US$34.8m in the North American box office from 3,682 locations, making it the year’s biggest opening so far. While this is lower than early projections of a $40m to $50m opening weekend in the US and Canada, studio Warner Bros. has projected it will reach $40m by the end of the President’s Day long weekend in the US. Internationally, Wuthering Heights passed predictions to make US$42m in 76 territories, with more men reportedly making up audiences outside North America, where PostTrak polling estimated 76% of ticket buyers were women. The romantic drama, starring Australians Robbie and Elordi as Catherine and Heathcliff, also performed strongly in Australia, where it made A$6.07m (US$4.3m) in its opening weekend, which Deadline attributed to the stars’ “home field advantage”. A global total of US$82m, taking in the whole US long weekend, would mean Wuthering Heights had already recouped its reported $80m production budget in its opening weekend, not accounting for the millions spent on marketing and promotion. And the film still has several big openings on the horizon, in Japan and Vietnam on 27 February, and in China on 13 March. (Sian Cain)
In The Times, Susie Goldsbrough wonders 'Why so much hate for the new Wuthering Heights? This is why I loved it'. But as the lights went down and an odd squeaking noise, suspiciously like bedsprings, filled the cinema, growing louder and louder, and then the first, sudden, shocking shot flashed onto the screen, Fennell had me by the scruff of the neck. It’s stylish, confident, sometimes affronting, wickedly funny but it also has a heart. I dropped a few tears at the end. I’m confused by the overall negative response. The film is of course not faithful in all respects to Emily Brontë’s novel, which would anyhow be a weird standard to apply to any adaptation — the word itself implies change. The business of taking something born of one era and making it appeal to another inevitably involves change — how boring if it didn’t. Also, as any of the noble 10,000 who recently bought and hopefully read a copy could tell you, Wuthering Heights is not a book you want to be entirely faithful to. It’s a wild work of imaginative invention but it’s also ludicrous, repetitive and, for the final 200 pages, a slog. Fennell’s film, which like several adaptations before it has done away with the dreary second half, is largely better for its alterations. [...] Fennell is not a filmmaker interested in muddy Yorkshire realism but her bloody-red, swirling silks and surreal sequences are a different approach to truth. When Cathy’s father — a delightfully menacing Martin Clunes — dies, we see his body flanked by two vast, tottering towers of empty green glass gin bottles. It’s not a shot to read literally but a witty, efficient way of reminding us that this was a man who has poisoned himself to death. It’s not a perfect film, but there is so much to like about it: the two child actors, Charlotte Mellington and Owen Cooper, playing Cathy and Heathcliff, best friends who survive together through a brutal childhood, who yanked at my heartstrings from the start with their sweetness and their fear. Then the lovely, bickering patter of Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, sexually obsessed with each other, one exasperating, one exasperated. “I am Heathcliff!” says Cathy in the novel. “He’s always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being.” Obsession is the dark spirit of Emily Brontë’s novel and Emerald Fennell has trapped it on-screen.
“Wuthering Heights” celebrates the 1847 novel’s strangeness in a modern way—it is romantic and steamy, shocking and devastating. And although it does not follow the novel word for word, it is a fantastic interpretation of a beloved classic. (Taylor Finnell) Catherine and Heathcliff are unapologetically callous, spitting hateful vitriol at anyone close to them. In the end, it’s what makes them so perfect for each other. The sexual tension between Catherine and Heathcliff radiates from the screen thanks to the chemistry between Robbie and Elordi. (Sarah Gopaul) So there you have it. Wuthering Heights is not faithful to the book, but it is faithful to what the film aroused in young Emerald Fennell’s imagination. It’s a remarkable thing to be able to evoke the passions of a young female bibliophile. The resulting film is a bit silly, very sexy, visually decadent, and, yes, wonderful. (Max Weiss) A contributor to The Daily Northwestern claims that '‘ Wuthering Heights’ is not the withering mess it’s made out to be'. I understand the pain that the novel’s fans feel. As an adaptation, “Wuthering Heights” grossly falls short of meeting its source material’s quality. But as a film, it is enjoyable, visually stunning and rife with wonderful performances. (Bianca Dishmon)
Let’s begin with the wink — the self-aware mischief — embedded in “Wuthering Heights” from the title itself. This is not quite Wuthering Heights, but “Wuthering Heights” in inverted quotation marks — the way the film appears on posters and in its stylized title sequence. Director Emerald Fennell seemingly wants to shield herself from devoted fans of Emily Brontë’s immortal novel and declare out loud: This is not an adaptation of the book. This is my version of Wuthering Heights — or “Wuthering Heights” — what I saw in the novel and chose to put on screen, with all the color, sex and pop songs on the soundtrack that, in my view, perfectly convey the tragic love story between Cathy (Margot Robbie) and Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi). I do not care about fidelity to the source material, and certainly not about historical fidelity to early 19th-century Britain. Take it or leave it. And we do. (Benjamin Tovias) “Wuthering Heights” might not be the adaptation that some people were looking for, but as a dramatic story about love, it hits its mark. The movie is visually rich and musically lush. It’s a dense meal that’s both bitter and sweet as it goes down, but it lingers long after it’s finished. (Tyler Hayes) If you have no emotional investment in the book and are prepared to see the film as Emerald Fennell’s vision, her interpretation, her reimagining of Wuthering Heights and through her stylised lens, it is enjoyable enough. It remains fundamentally hollow and muddled for many of the same reasons as above but there’s a story to follow, atmospheric sets, gorgeous cinematography with every frame filling the screen like a beautiful painting and a haunting, evocative soundtrack. Owen Cooper, as the young Heathcliff is excellent. Alison Oliver brings the laughs. Elordi and Margot look fantastic. The costumes, while incongruous, are gloriously over the top and stunning. And the ending does finally evoke all the emotions and even some tears. (Rehna Azim) Some people won't admit defeat. After repeating the same old things about Heathcliff being miscast, this contributor to The Baker Orange claims that she was moved by the film, but it's because she knew what it was all about, not because of the film itself. Visually, though, this film is just stunning. The cinematography was beautiful. The scenery was all very visually appealing. Almost distractingly so. It all looks expensive and tasteful, which is exactly the wrong approach for a story that should feel hostile and ugly. To be clear: adaptations don’t owe us complete fidelity. However, this feels less like a reinterpretation and more like a complete misreading. It felt like someone fell in love with the aesthetic of a doomed romance and completely ignored the racial and class violence that made it doomed in the first place. The irony is that a realistic adaptation of Wuthering Heights would probably be widely hated. It would be uglier. Less romantic. There will be audiences who adore this version for its star power and overall vibe. That’s fair. As a standalone tragic romance, it works. But as an adaptation of one of the most brutal novels of our time, it falls flat. And despite all of this, I cried harder at the end of this movie than any movie I have ever seen. And I believe it’s because I carried the context of the story with me into the theater. I knew what these characters were supposed to mean. I can think that the adaptation is a misread, and still admit that it moved me. Maybe that says less about the film and more about how this powerful story has withstood the test of time. (Meg Qualls)
For Trill it's a disastrous adaptation. Even on its own merits, this movie is a complete disaster. The directing is confident, as we’ve come to expect from Fennell, but the screenplay is heavy-handed and dry. The movie is genuinely a slog to get through, especially when Heathcliff is off-screen. Heathcliff is the only character who really engaged me, despite being a neutered version of his book counterpart. A lot of this movie’s selling points actually end up hindering the movie. Margot Robbie is undoubtedly a great actress, but in this film, she is terribly miscast and as a result gives a bizarre performance. Charli XCX is one of my favorite musicians, but her original songs for this movie actively hinder the scenes they are in. This movie clearly has talent behind it, but in execution nothing works. The one redeeming quality here is the cinematography. Linus Sandgren was cinematographer on La La Land, Saltburn, and Babylon. In this movie, he does a lot of really interesting things with the camera. The use of color is also incredible; it looks stunning in so many shots. It really compliments the already stunning set and production design. “Wuthering Heights” already does not represent the time period very well at all, so I wish it committed more to the exaggerated realism its clearly going for. Better yet, I wish this film did anything interesting with the time period at all, like it is trying to do. It’s clear that this movie, even if it had been wildly inaccurate to the source material, could have been half decent. Instead, it fails as both an adaptation and as a film of its own. (Brayden Caldwell)
The beauty of the film alone was enough to make me enjoy it and tolerate the poor writing, but visuals can only get you so far. The story is just as crucial, and here it didn’t meet the mark. (Justin Mehlbrech)
I am absolutely no purist. I love artistic playfulness and some bold and original takes on the classics. Some work surprisingly well – the modern Sherlock Holmes TV series with Benedict Cumberbatch. Or "Clueless", a tongue in cheek modern retelling of Jane Austen’s "Emma". However, all should be done with class, subtlety and respect for the original material and its characters. This most recent version of "Wuthering Heights" lacks all these elements. It is superficial and mono-thematic, bordering on parody. Moreover, it changes the very essence of certain personages (for example Nelly - the manipulator, the quirky masochist Isabella and the aforementioned Joseph). (Marta Oliehoek-Samitowska)
“Wuthering Heights” is a wannabe “Romeo and Juliet” that is simply not an adaptation of its source material, aside from the names Cathy Earnshaw and Heathcliff slapped onto its leads. Not only that, but it also fails to be a compelling romance, whose actors tend to putter around beautiful sets with very little to do. When they are doing things, it’s not even that interesting. It’s a failure on all levels of cinema, and the only enjoyment I could find out of going to the cinema to see it was the popcorn and snacks I had while watching it. (Marguerite C. J. Marley)
Entre una telenovela turca, un culebrón latino, una novela rosa-erótica con escocés macizo de Maya Banks o una indigestión de Peter Greenaway, Yorgos Lánthimos y otros “aggiornadores” de temas históricos o literarios, la actriz, guionista, productora y directora Emerald Fenell (Una joven prometedora, Saltburn) ha reunido a Barbie y a Frankenstein o, lo que es lo mismo, a Margot Robbie y Jacob Elordi (que ya trabajó con ella en Saltburn), dos de los más poderosos y taquilleros sex-symbols actuales, en esta reinterpretación de la obra maestra de Emily Brontë escrita y dirigida por ella. [...] Este es el camino que Emerald Fenell ha pretendido tomar, exprimiendo de la novela todo su potencial de pasión devastadora y exasperada. Pero su película es puro plástico videoclipero (uso de las canciones de Charli XCX) tan caro como hortera, con mucho cuerpazo y sexo, pero poco erotismo (las metáforas gastro-sexuales son penosas), un diseño de producción de Suzie Davis (Mr. Turner, Cónclave) y un vestuario de su habitual colaboradora Jacqueline Durran (La bella y la bestia, Barbie) que incurren más en la forzada extravagancia de un barroco-pop de pega con un cierto tufo de princesas Disney que en la originalidad visual que se pretende crear. La extravagancia caprichosa, la modernidad impostada y la trasgresión comercialmente calculada son la marca de esta película que busca gustar epatando o epatar gustando mientras explota a conciencia los rostros y los cuerpos de una entregada Robbie y un menos convincente (como actor) Elordi, más Can Yaman o William Levy que Heathcliff. Ninguno logra hacer creer que son sus personajes. El resultado es un hueco ejercicio de interpretación a brochazos de un texto extraordinario al que se le extirpan sus muchas posibilidades de lecturas más oscuras, arrebatadas, salvajes y críticas. Como toda traducción es también interpretación, además de las versiones de Wyler y Buñuel, recomiendo a quien no la haya leído la extraordinaria traducción de Carmen Martín Gaite (Alba Editorial) que hace sentir lo que Virginia Woolf escribió sobre Cumbres borrascosas: “Con un par de pinceladas Emily Brontë podía conseguir retratar el espíritu de una cara de modo que no precisara cuerpo; al hablar del páramo conseguía hacer que el viento soplara y el trueno rugiera”. En esta película hay cuerpos, casi es lo único que hay, pero no caracteres. Y no se oye, por mucho ruido que los efectos y la banda sonora metan, oír ni el viento ni el trueno. El problema no es la libertad con la que un texto se reinterprete, sino que se tunee reduciéndolo a telenovela. (Carlos Colón) (Translation)
Esto enfrenta al espectador a cierta incomodidad, también impulsada por la banda sonora compuesta por Charli XCX, que incluye 12 canciones originales, cuyo estilo introduce un contrapunto irónico, subrayando la tensión entre lo sublime y lo vulgar. Cumbres Borrascosas mantiene viva la confrontación y el debate en la relación entre Catherine y Heathcliff, que despliega, como en un campo de batalla, las clases sociales y las pulsiones íntimas, también limitadas, algo esperable en esta directora. Robbie le aporta a Catherine sensaciones que oscilan entre la fragilidad y la crueldad, mientras Elordi encarna un Heathcliff menos espectral y más humano, mucho más frágil, atrapado en la contradicción entre deseo y resentimiento. La película insiste en que el amor aquí no es redentor; sino destructivo: un vínculo que corroe y arrastra hasta morir. Juzguen ustedes. (Daniel Rojas Chía) (Translation)
A columnist from Mamamia says that she loved the film but walked out feeling uneasy. It's a complicated feeling to love a film's "look" while feeling like it's fundamentally re-writing the very characters that give the story its weight and it begs the question: why is our modern lens so obsessed with hypersexualising female pain? By turning Isabella's trauma into a consensual, BDSM-coded transactional relationship, we've traded her actual human resilience for a hollow, edgy trope. We don't need these women to be hyper-competent or hypersexual to be interesting; we just need them to be allowed the messy, un-sexy humanity Emily Brontë actually gave them. (Madison Scott)
Russh has an article on 'Why Alison Oliver is the one to watch in ‘ Wuthering Heights’'. According to SlashFilm, the 'The Best Wuthering Heights Adaptation You've Never Seen' is the music video of It's All Coming Back To Me Now. The Telegraph has an article on 'How Heathcliff the musical became a runaway hit'.
A contributor to USA Today reports on a Wuthering Heights watch party. Esquire thinks that 'You Should Really, Really Take a Date to Wuthering Heights'.
In the case of Wuthering Heights, the album sometimes feels as if Charli committed fully to her concept, but didn’t allow herself to branch out even further, reach higher, express – or even abandon – more. It is a symphony, but not quite an opus. Yet as it stands, this might actually be her most successful album: re-imagining herself as bravely as she has many times, but shedding the fur coat. And in that, this is likely a more valid, lasting and, surprisingly, necessary adaptation than Fennell could have managed. (John Wohlmacher)
Charli was tasked with creating work that fits both a time-honored novel and a flawed film adaptation; “Wuthering Heights” straddles the two remarkably well. Despite the general perception of the film thus far, Charli’s album is absolutely worth a listen. (Alexander Hernandez Gonzalez and Eliza Martin) Fa gairebé 50 anys, Kate Bush es va inspirar en Wuthering heights (i el seu acte final) en una cançó d’halo sobrenatural, i ara és Charlie XCX qui aconsegueix interpretar l’angoixa anímica del relat de Brontë en una bonica obra inquietant. Un àlbum amb entitat pròpia, al marge del seu rol de score, on aquest anhel de l’amor impossible i punyent flota fins al final (i més enllà). (Jordi Bianciotto) (Translation) Collider lists '10 Period Romances Like 'Wuthering Heights' That Need To Be Adapted Next', including 'The Tenant of Wildfell Hall' by Anne Brontë The Brontë novel that feels shockingly most modern didn't originate from Emily or Charlotte, but the youngest sister, Anne. Her heroine, Helen Graham, is a woman fleeing a disastrous marriage and facing social exile because of that choice. She arrives at Wildfell Hall with her young son and a cloud of suspicion trailing her. Like her older sister's work, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is about control, reputation, and survival, but from the perspective of someone determined not to be destroyed by love. And it deserves a film adaptation that treats Helen as the quietly radical figure she is, choosing autonomy over love, independence over conformity, Realism over Romanticism. This one's for the Moor-loving feminists, you guys. (Jessica Toomer)
Feminism India discusses 'What Charlotte Brontë’s ‘ Villette’ Can Teach Us About Women, Independence, And Refusing To Settle'. Lucy becomes an independent headmistress of her own school, similar to Madame Beck, further emphasising the unconventionality of such a story. In an era that continues to be dictated by the interests of patriarchal value systems, forcing women to navigate impossible expectations, Lucy Snowe’s rejection of romantic fulfilment and an acceptance of a life built on her own terms reminds the readers of the value in living a truly unapologetic life despite its uncertainties and fears. Nearly two centuries later, her quiet rebellion in Villette feels more urgent than ever. (Anoushka Chaudhary) Some merchandise and a podcast. All Wuthering Heights-related.
Handbags - Midi Mayfair bag in deep-shine croc (forest green, cherry red, caramel, ivory) with Wuthering Heights–inspired romantic styling.
- Midi Mayfair bag in black velvet with stitched pattern and red flower charm (Patrick McDowell collaboration, included in the Wuthering Heights-themed edit).
- Hudson Large Crossbody Pouch in ruby red, included as a lower-priced Wuthering Heights-themed bag option.
Small leather goods & accessories - “Be With Me Always” Passport Cover in black pebble leather (Aspinal x Wuthering Heights exclusive).
- “Be With Me Always” A5 Journal / notebook in cherry red leather, featuring the quote as the collection’s key phrase.
- “Be With Me Always” heart-shaped jewellery case, with Wuthering Heights script and the engraved quote.
- Heart-shaped leather bookmark with Wuthering Heights romantic motif and quote.
- Leather keyrings with Wuthering Heights quotes such as “Be with me always” in the film’s distinctive font.
- Leather luggage tags with the same Wuthering Heights quote styling.
- Mouse mat for home office with Wuthering Heights themed design and romantic quote.
- Pen and holder set with subtle Wuthering Heights-inspired romantic detailing.
Jewellery - “Thin Hearts” bangle/bracelet in 18ct gold and enamel (red or gold), with continuous heart motif; promoted as part of the Wuthering Heights romantic accessories selection.
And now the podcast:
Secret Life of Books With Sophie Gee and Jonty Claypole
The storm clouds are gathering in anticipation of the Valentine’s Day release of Emerald Fennell’s raunchy film adaptation of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. The film has been described by one critic as “very horny, very sumptuous, and very demented.” Margot Robbie looks set to change the way we read this beloved classic, well, if not forever, for a few weeks during awards season. It’s fair to say that anyone remotely connected to the world of classic literature is standing by, getting ready to jeer. And it’s also fair to say that the film has propelled Wuthering Heights to become the most read classic of 2026. The New York subway, the London Tube and many other transport systems worldwide are dotted with earnest young people, proudly nose-deep in their Penguin Wuthering Heights. If SLOB has a motto, it’s be prepared. To ready our devoted listeners for the big V. Day release, we’ve recorded a brand-new episode on Wuthering Heights. Emily Bronte’s novel, which may just be the most unhinged, genre-busting, unputdownable classic in English, is back, bigger, better, and balmier than when SLOB recorded our first episode back at the very beginning of this podcast. We drink deep, but always with our trademark cheeky humor, in Emily Bronte’s biography, the secrets behind the book’s writing, and why the Heathcliff-Catherine love-story it is most definitely not GOATED, as the kids say.
Good Ones
En resumen, « Cumbres borrascosas» no es una adaptación reverente, sino una apropiación apasionada. Puede que no satisfaga a quienes buscan fidelidad literal, pero posee algo más difícil de conseguir: la mirada de una creadora que crea su propio mundo. Emerald Fennell no reproduce la novela de Emily Brontë, sino que recrea su universo. Y en ese gesto discutible y arriesgado, hay autenticidad porque, al final, lo que permanece no es la exactitud histórica ni la literalidad del texto, sino la sensación de haber asistido a una tormenta poderosa, hermosa y triste. (Laura Zurita) (Translation)
As: (Spain) (4 out of 5 stars) Hay una escena en esta ‘Cumbres borrascosas’ en la que Heathcliff le dice a Isabella Linton que va a tratarla como un bruto y que va a ser muy, pero que malo con ella. Le pregunta si quiere que pare y ella dice que no. A continuación, él comenta que piensa usarla y aprovecharse de su cuerpo y posición, pero que pensará en otra mientras estén haciéndolo. Entonces repite la pregunta: ¿quieres que pare? Por toda respuesta, Lipton se quita los tirantes del vestido y lo deja caer al suelo. ‘Cumbres borrascosas’ es exactamente así. Desde el principio te avisa de que va a destrozar el material original para transformarlo en la fantasía calenturienta que se montó la directora al leer el libro. Si aceptas esto, que no es poco, la experiencia es divertida y visualmente arrebatadora. Es una noche loca de las que recuerdas. Porque no es la película con la que te casarías si jugaras a fuck, marry, kill... pero tampoco es la que matarías. (David Arroyo) (Translation)
En conjunto, esta ‘Cumbres Borrascosas’ de 2026 no busca complacer a los puristas. Es una experiencia visualmente exuberante, diseñada para incomodar tanto como para seducir. Su romanticismo es oscuro, excesivo y deliberadamente irónico, siendo un melodrama que conquista más por lo que hace sentir que por lo que ofrece en lo narrativo. ‘Cumbres Borrascosas’ es una apuesta fresca por parte de su directora, siendo quizás, una de las versiones más arriesgadas y que mejor ha adaptado a la obra original, invitando al espectador a un delirio sensorial. (Alejandro Ávila Peña) (Translation) Margot Robbie sostiene gran parte del peso emocional del film. Su Cathy es impulsiva y contradictoria, motor de la historia y de la tragedia que se despliega. Por su parte, Jacob Elordi construye un Heathcliff más contenido y observador, cuya transformación física y psicológica, responde al dolor y al amor no resuelto, aunque en algunos momentos su interpretación podría haber explorado mayor profundidad emocional. El desenlace recupera la intensidad que define al relato original y ofrece un clímax conmovedor, capaz de conectar con el espectador, desde la nostalgia y la fatalidad romántica. Esta quinta (not really) adaptación, no pretende reemplazar a sus predecesoras, sino dialogar con ellas. Es una versión estilizada, arriesgada y visualmente poderosa que apuesta por reinterpretar el mito, más que por reproducirlo fielmente. Emerald Fennell asume el riesgo creativo, y aunque el resultado no es perfecto, sí es una propuesta interesante que demuestra que los clásicos pueden seguir reinventándose,sin perder su esencia trágica. (Elizabeth Salazar) (Translation)
Cumbres borrascosas’ es una visión divertida y actual que está llamada a convertirse en referente generacional que se convierte en, tal vez, la obra más autoral y personal de Fennell. Una auténtica obra sofisticada de orfebrería, que está creada para generar controversias y dividir al público, pero que resulta profundamente cautivadora si consigues entrar en el juego idílico e irreal que nos propone. (María José Cánovas) (Translation) Lukewarm
Acción: (Spain) (3 out of 5 stars) La necesidad de transformar Cumbres borrascosas, una historia tan entroncada en los páramos de Yorkshire y en una época agreste y árida, en algo que sea del gusto de los públicos del siglo XXI es una tarea demasiado arriesgada. El amor sin reservas entre Heathcliff y Cathy no es susceptible de pasar por un tamiz similar al del Versalles dieciochesco de María Antonieta, tal como lo concibió Sofia Coppola. En este sentido, Emerald Fennell aprovecha las composiciones de corte pop/folk de la cantante Charli XCX para trasladar el dramatismo desatado de H y C a un universo de poses más propias de un videoclip de inspiración camp que de una historia abismal y asfixiante. Tales propósitos descargan de explosividad el personaje de Heathcliff, que pierde fuelle frente a una Catherine que asume el mayor peso de una existencia malograda por culpa de las malas decisiones. Un problema que rompe el equilibrio melodramático necesario para mantener la tensión romántica de la trama ideada por Emily Brontë. (Jesús Martín) (Translation)
Los Moviementarios: (Spain)
No puedo decir que ‘Cumbres borrascosas’ no me haya gustado, una cosa que me dio fue un gran debate al salir de verla y eso siempre es un gran punto a favor de la película. Pero sí que creo que podría ser mucho mejor y que si se hubiese centrado más en la novela hubiese sido tremenda. Pero como siempre digo, no es mi película, es la versión de la directora y el cine está para todo el mundo. ‘Cumbres borrascosas’ tiene cosas muy buenas y pese a mitad de película que para mí se pierde, el principio y el final de la cinta logra que mínimo pueda recomendárosla (Vicky Carras) (Translation) El Periódico: (Spain) (3 out of 5 stars)
Falla en su dimensión psicológica y emocional: más que por amor u odio, los personajes actúan según sopla el viento. En su desarrollo no hay ni profundidad ni coherencia. La película de Fennell también carece de la expresión desatada del afecto propia del melodrama romántico: es una película desbocada pero no emocionante. Sí es sensual y sexual. Es tosca en sus metáforas sexuales y menos provocadora de lo que se intuía, pero hay erotismo en las imágenes, química entre Margot Robbie y Jacob Elordi y cachondeo a costa del deseo. La película de Fennell es visualmente exuberante, pero de una manera insólita. 'Cumbres borrascosas' está más cerca de la fotonovela exquisita que del lenguaje cinematográfico. Es una película con un diseño de producción atractivo, realmente vistosa, pero más preocupada por el plano esteticista, casi la postal, que por el movimiento, la sucesión y el diálogo interno de las imágenes. (Desiree de Fez) (Translation)
La Razón: (Spain) (3 out of 5 stars)
El espectáculo está servido, y entre ampulosos decorados (de hecho, la casa de Cathy y su marido parece la de Barbie), un vestuario que envidiaría el mismísimo Baz Luhrmann y dos seres reconcomidos por la autodestrucción y el dolor, pero, sobre todo, por la calentura, se desarrolla este delirante melodrama con momentos poco afortunados (lo de que Heathcliff trate como una perra a su esposa resulta muy desmelenado) y ligeramente más hortera que lo que su realizadora deseó. Ay, cuidado con el deseo, que a veces es un arma de doble filo. (Carmen L. Lobo) (Translation)
Fotogramas: (Spain)
La decisión de Fennell es reducir ‘Cumbres borrascosas’ a una historia de amor imposible. En ese aspecto, con una pareja como Margot Robbie y Jacob Elordi, resulta arrebatadora. Pero prescinde de reflexiones profundas sobre el origen de la maldad, del rencor como una pulsión inevitable y la venganza como motor existencial. También la mirada en torno a cómo esto se transmite de generación en generación perpetuando el círculo de la toxicidad y la violencia. En definitiva, de gran parte de la densidad turbia que atraviesa la novela. Muy consciente de ello, se ha encargado de poner unas absolutorias comillas en el título. Lo cierto es que si todo el mundo actuara con la misma honestidad no quedaría cartel de película sin ellas. (Laura Pérez) (Translation)
L'Echo: (Belgium) (3 out of 5 stars)
On peut légitimement se demander si une nouvelle adaptation était nécessaire. Mais Emerald Fennell évite l’exercice scolaire. Sa version n’est ni majeure, ni pleinement aboutie, elle est vivante, habitée et plutôt audacieuse. Un film imparfait, certes, parfois flou, frustrant, mais jamais tiède.
Et surtout, il rappelle une chose: Emily Brontë écrivait déjà, au XIXe siècle, sur des corps traversés par le désir, sur la violence des classes sociales, sur la liberté affective, sexuelle, émotionnelle. Emerald Fennell ne sacralise pas le roman, elle le ressuscite. Et c’est peut-être là le plus intéressant: faire résonner un texte ancien avec des pulsions très contemporaines. (Constant Carbonnelle) (Translation)
È evidente che il film è un grande blockbuster a uso e consumo dello sguardo transmediale e sincopato di oggi, ma l’operazione è interessante proprio per questo, perché il romanzo di Emily Brontë è utilizzato come semplice archetipo (Marco Luceri) (Translation) Bad Ones Fila Siete: (Spain)
Fennell prostituye el relato de Brontë para llevarlo a su turbio terreno, con un ridículo tono publicitario y unas grotescas interpretaciones. (...)
Fennell le enmienda la plana a Brontë y dice que en la novela hay sexo a tutiplén, que ella la leyó cuando era adolescente y ahora le va a meter hormonas y la va a contar sin remilgos. Así que Cumbres borrascosas se convierte en Llanuras follastrosas. Con torpeza cansina y recurrente convierte los 136 minutos de metraje en un tostón. No hay conflicto, no hay viaje de personajes. No hay amor por ninguna parte. No hay personas debajo de unos personajes-percha a los que pones a jugar a un agotador ajedrez sexual con musiquita y planos de anuncio rancio.
El estúpido feminismo de Fennell lleva al personaje protagonista -y a la actriz que lo interpreta- a una cosificación tan brutal que da pena ese utilitarismo miserable. Algo similar le ocurre a un Heathcliff adulto, un cacho de carne con ojos, que simplemente aparece… y copula. (Alberto Fijo) (Translation)
Aunque ese amor pretenda ser tan abrasivo, no me siento contagiado ni quemado por lo que veo y escucho en la película de Emerald Fennell. (...) Y la realización está muy cuidada, pero me provoca el mismo efecto que cuando observo la publicidad de lujo, no la cutre. Y es que no me creo lo que pretenden venderme. Es artificio al servicio de la nada. La directora Emerald Fennell también abusa todo el rato en el empleo de la música, recurso facilón y estomagante con el que pretendes distraer o emocionar al espectador cuando lo que ve y escucha no poseen ese efecto magnético. Acabo hasta los genitales de pianos y violines. (Carlos Boyero) (Translation)
El Mundo: (Spain) (2 out of 5 stars)
Pero, y esto es lo que cuenta, se aman mal en una exhibición de falta de química preocupante. Lo hacen, eso sí, sin medida, sin control y sin esperanza. Se aman tanto que no les queda otra que hacerse la vida imposible. Se aman hasta el más extenuante de los agotamientos. Se aman en un palacio con el aspecto del trastero donde Jean Paul Gaultier amontona todas sus pesadillas o, peor, los sobrantes de las últimas campañas navideñas. No es barroquismo, es peor, es descontrol. (...)
Todo se lo permite Fennell y bien está que así sea. El problema, y no menor, es la intrascendencia de todo, la falta de pulso de emocional, el vacío gramatical, el atolondramiento digamos. Cuando el protagonista recite ante el cadáver de su amada aquello de "¡No puedo vivir sin mi vida! ¡No puedo vivir sin mi alma!", el cansancio, tanto visual como argumental, es tal que las palabras, unas de las más graves y soberbias jamás escritas, quedan ya sin fuerza, desasistidas, sin filo, sin abismo. Un sombrero (Luis Martínez) (Translation)
Jacob Elordi carece de la furia vengativa (quizás porque Emerald Fennell no se la proporciona ni con el guion ni con la cámara) que tenía el mitológico personaje creado por Emily Brönte (sic) y a la queridísima Margot Robbie nos la relegan a un papel sin matices, casi de protagonista de muy ajadas fotonovelas y muy antiguas telenovelas. Un poco más de furia y fuego en su interior (al fin y al cabo, eres epítome de la más cruel y dolorosa literatura romántica) habría sido de agradecer. Este Heathcliff, esta Cathy nunca arderán en el infierno. Solo son ceniza y pavesas. (Begoña Del Teso) (Translation)
Potache, Emerald Fennell s’amuse avec des gros plans suggestifs sur la nourriture et des scènes érotiques (vaguement sadomasochistes) qui raviront le public visé : les millennials et la génération Z, biberonnés à La Chronique des Bridgerton et Cinquante nuances de Grey. Acclamée pour ses outrances visuelles, sa stylisation jusqu’au-boutiste, qu’elle déployait dans Promising Young Woman et Saltburn, la cinéaste récidive avec des costumes et des décors décalés et anachroniques. La garde-robe de Cathy emprunte à tous les contes, du Petit Chaperon rouge à La Belle et la Bête. Le manoir des Linton invite aux hallucinations. Sa salle aux murs rouges laqués et carrelage dallé évoque l’univers de David Lynch dans Twin Peaks. Jusqu’au papier peint de la chambre de l’héroïne qui reproduit le grain de peau Margot Robbie. « Hurlevent » suinte d’une beauté criarde, sublime et grotesque. Cette créativité survoltée et cette mise en scène débridée finissent toutefois par éreinter les yeux. Surtout, en éludant la seconde partie du roman de Brontë sur les descendants de Heathcliff et Cathy, « Hurlevent » se glisse dans une impasse narrative, voire un total hors sujet à l’image d’un dénouement mièvre à la Roméo et Juliette, qui aseptise et absout les amoureux toxiques, les érigeant en martyrs romantiques. (Constance Jamet) (Translation)
Hurlevent s’obsède tellement à faire forte impression qu’il finit par désensibiliser son spectateur. Ici, tout sert de faire-valoir, à la fois à Emerald Fennell comme cinéaste qui tente son grand geste, mais aussi et surtout à Margot Robbie, omniprésente jusqu’à l’écœurement. A elle seule, Margot Robbie aspire toute l’énergie du film, le laissant comme exsangue.
C’est l’écueil souvent atteint par des acteurs qui ont une double casquette de producteur : ils se condamnent au film ego trip. Rien ne leur fait de l’ombre, tout leur sert de faire-valoir. Il n’y a qu’à voir le traitement accordé à l’autre femme du film, Isabella Linton (Alison Oliver), la sœur du mari de Catherine, dont on souligne la laideur et la médiocrité pour mieux rehausser la splendeur bientôt agaçante de Margot Robbie – actrice beaucoup trop glacée et en surface pour rendre justice aux profondeurs d’un personnage comme Catherine. (Murielle Joudet) (Translation)
Le spectateur approuve vigoureusement de la tête à chaque fois qu’ils déclarent avec l’air d’avoir besoin de pilules laxatives : « Tout ça doit s’arrêter ». Il faut plus de deux heures pour qu’ils se décident à mettre un point final, qui, paradoxalement, arrive comme un poil de nez dans le consommé tant il est soudain. On ne comprend jamais vraiment ce qu’Emerald Fennel voulait démontrer avec cette fresque au budget digne du PIB de plusieurs petits pays. Hurlevent est tellement raté qu’on se prend à espérer que le film a été remonté contre son gré. (Caroline Vié) (Translation)
Star puissante, coproductrice du film, Margot Robbie est la mieux servie. Sa technique très au point d’actrice lui permet de faire vrombir les contradictions intérieures de son personnage en dépit du régime de glaciation généralisé du film. Elle est ce que le film a de plus vivant et incarné. Pour Jacob Elordi, l’opération est hélas plus dommageable. Déjà dirigé par Emerald Fennell, il était ce que Saltburn comportait de plus intéressant. Parce que, en le castant dans ce rôle de nanti avantageusement doté en tout, la cinéaste croquait avec malice le léger inconfort que pouvait constituer d’être Jacob Elordi, c’est-à-dire trop beau, trop successfull, trop sympa en plus, objet de tous les fantasmes comme des plus sournoises convoitises. L’acteur, qu’on a pourtant déjà vu très bon ailleurs (d’Euphoria à Oh Canada de Paul Schrader ou Priscilla de Sofia Coppola), s’avère incapable d’accoucher d’un personnage : il ne parvient ni à jouer l’appartenance de classe d’Heathcliff, ni son identité d’outcast (peut-être qu’en 2026, comme l’avait fait Andréa Arnold en 2011, ce personnage stigmatisé pour “sa peau sombre” doit-il être interprété par des acteurs racisés). Il porte les haillons du garçon de ferme ou la défroque cossue du parvenu avec la même indifférence désinvestie. Le film n’arrive pas vraiment à le regarder. Ni même à accorder son jeu à celui de sa partenaire. Comme s’ils ne jouaient pas tout à fait ensemble. De ce grand amour empêché, le film d’Emerald Fennell n’arrive pas à filmer l’alchimie particulière, l’attraction qui les aimante l’un vers l’autre. C’est son plus grave échec. (Jean-Marc Lalanne) (Translation)
Grand bluff instagramable, l’adaptation d’Emerald Fennell réduit le sombre chef-d’œuvre d’Emily Brontë à une romance clinquante et inoffensive, dépourvue de toute complexité. (Elisabeth Franck-Dumas) (Translation) Le Parisien: (France) (1 out of 5 stars)
Il y a tout de même une chose à sauver dans cette catastrophe cinématographique : la bande originale, épatante, signée Charli XCX. Mais, puisque son album « Wuthering Heights » sort parallèlement, on peut s’en régaler en soi : les images du film désastreux ne risquent pas de nous hanter à son écoute. Au final, on est assez furax contre Emerald Fennell : après s’être prise pour la reine du cinéma indépendant avec « Promising Young Woman », puis s’être rêvée en héritière de Pier Paolo Pasolini — quelle prétention ! — avec l’exécrable « Saltburn », la voilà qui massacre sans vergogne, et de façon ridicule, l’un des plus beaux romans de l’histoire de la littérature. Grrrrr… (Renaud Baronian ) (Translation)
La Repubblica: (Italy)
Strano vedere un film britannico in cui tutti recitano così male ma Margot Robbie e Jacob Elordi sono australiani, giocano fuori casa. (Alberto Crespi) (Translation) and El País (Spain) goes beyond the mere review to make a more general point: No se puede decir que esta versión sea una mala adaptación pues ni siquiera habla del libro. En vez de eso apuesta por la construcción del romance como idilio, que nada tiene que ver con el amor y menos aún con la impredecible e irresistible pasión que escribió Emily Brontë. Lo bueno del idilio es que puede prefabricarse en cualquier parte. Y para muestra, ahí tienen toda la estética de folletín y princesas Disney con que su exquisita campaña de marketing ha enterrado toda sombra de naturaleza: desde los vestidos de Margot Robbie hasta las convencionales rosas con que Jacob Elordi dijo haber inundado el camerino de la actriz o el canon de belleza de los protagonistas. (...) Lo más triste es que “Cumbres borrascosas“ no es un caso aislado. Las grandes producciones de cine se están convirtiendo en productos derivados, contenido secundario de una Barbie, un libro o un acontecimiento histórico, lo que sea. Cualquier excusa es buena cuando no hay nada que contar. Puede ser divertido pero no creo que sea cine. A mí esta versión me recuerda un poco a Naranjito, un compañero amable con quien disfrutamos el Mundial 82 pero que no era un balón de fútbol: era una mandarina. (Nuria Labari) (Translation)
Radio Times repeats something that, even though obvious, needs to be reminded: Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights is controversial – but Emily Brontë’s classic novel has been shocking people for 178 years. (...) Speaking to RadioTimes.com, Juliet Barker, author of The Brontës, Lucasta Miller, author of The Brontë Myth, and Claire O’Callaghan, Editor-in-Chief of Brontë Studies – the official journal of the Brontë Society – talked us through the shocking past of the text. "The scenes of violence, they’re so graphic that they almost go beyond realism," explained Miller. "Which is why I don’t think they can really be represented on screen unless it became a Tarantino-esque cartoon. “If you imagine literally portraying on-screen a grown man rubbing a child’s wrist up and down on a broken window until the blood runs down. People would be running out of the cinemas.” The 2026 movie – out in cinemas today – retains an element of that shock factor. O’Callaghan, who works closely with the Brontë Parsonage Museum, explained: "The hyper sexualisation of the film right now and the controversy that that’s created is a complete echo of the controversy that came about when Emily published the book. “In many respects, the fact that it’s pushed everyone’s buttons is actually really in keeping with the original reception of the text and it shows us how culture has changed. “It shows us how we have very different attitudes to what’s provocative and what’s not. What the mistake with some of that though is to assume that Emily didn’t write a book filled with erotic tension because she did. “There are really provocative scenes in the book. We can’t get away from that, even if it’s written in code. She’s working within Victorian conventions and alluding very, very strongly to just how comfortable and connected these two characters are with one another. And that’s the way the Victorians wrote about sex and desire and eroticism.” She added: “One of the most famous reviews was ‘Read Jane Eyre, burn Wuthering Heights’. I haven’t seen anyone calling for people to burn Emerald Fennell’s film.” (...) When Wuthering Heights was published, reviewers were shocked by the violence. Brontë biographer Barker explained: "It’s the fact that it’s amoral. There’s all this casual violence in it, casual cruelty. Heathcliff setting the trap over the lapwing’s nest, completely unnecessary. “When he hangs Isabella’s dog. There’s all these incidents of casual cruelty, and the way he treats Isabella when she’s his wife. You’ve got all this awful cruelty that’s completely casual and brutal. (...) Wuthering Heights has fascinated audiences since its first retelling on-screen in the silent movie in 1920, which has been lost. “The first adaptation on film, actually billed it as Emily Brontë’s great novel of hate, and that was the silent film that came out," explained O’Callaghan “But one of the things that’s happened increasingly over the years, particularly with Hollywood, and I guess we’re seeing that again now, is this focus on the passionate elements of the narrative, and the bond between Catherine and Heathcliff and how that is positioned as a love story above all else.” It was Laurence Olivier’s Oscar-nominated version (1939) that controversially spun Wuthering Heights into a tragic love affair. “You can date it all back to that film,” Barker said. “The really interesting thing about the Laurence Olivier version [is that] it turns Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff in particular, into a romantic figure. And it becomes a romantic love story. “It’s so far away from the book that it actually turns it into a tragic love affair, which it very much isn’t. That is a seminal moment, when that film comes out. I saw somewhere somebody described Heathcliff in the book as being an all-American hero. “He goes away, he comes back and he’s a wealthy man. And that’s the American story.” (...) There have been many retellings of Wuthering Heights onscreen and on-stage over the years, including Andrea Arnold’s 2011 movie version. Miller said: “[Arnold’s version] is completely the opposite of what this new Hollywood blockbuster is doing. It’s very gritty. It’s very downbeat. It’s no make-up, no music. “Candlelight, with a hand-held camera. It works well. It doesn’t mean a completely different take is going to work. No single version is going to get the full Wuthering Heights.” (...) A point of controversy with some of the adaptations — including Arnold’s 2011 take, the 1970s film starring Timothy Dalton and Olivier’s Oscar-nominated movie — is they miss out the second half of the book. This is a choice which Fennell herself has also taken, and one that has often proved unpopular with Brontëites. “It doesn’t make sense in any way,” Barker said. “The whole second generation is the redemption. And the redemption comes through education, because there is the second generation Cathy, Catherine, teaching Hareton, who has been brutalised and treated like Heathcliff had been. “She teaches him to read. And that’s how it ends up. He builds her a garden up at Wuthering Heights. That whole sense of redemption comes through in those really important chapters.” (Lily Waddell)
The Irish Times makes a case for a Wuthering Heights 2. In other words, the adaptation of the second half of the book: Yes, it’s time to start fantasy casting “Wuthering Heights” 2 – or, by rights, Wuthering Heights “2”, because, like others before her, Emerald Fennell has opted to skip over the second half of the novel in her take, leaving a creaking door open for a “sequel” that finally gives the younger Cathy Linton – daughter of Catherine “Margot Robbie” Earnshaw – her due. A film about the travails of the next generation would, admittedly, be difficult to pull off within the confines of Fennell’s universe, not least because “Wuthering Heights” excises Catherine’s brother Hindley from the narrative, making the future development of her offspring’s ultimately happy union with his son Hareton impossible. Who knows? Maybe the woman who brought us the grave-humping scene in Saltburn has a line, and that line is marriage between cousins. But it does seem like a lost opportunity that no one has bothered to make an iteration of Wuthering Heights that begins at the midpoint of the novel, with Catherine dead and Heathcliff tormenting everyone around him. There’s more than enough plot for a proper horror. We could see his displaced rage and keenness for intergenerational revenge fuel decades of senseless violence against hapless children forced to pay for the sins of their deceased parents, while his favourite ghost pops up every now and again to say hi. Eventually, the abuser becomes a spent force. Cathy 2.0 – tamer than her “mischievous and wayward” mother and, frankly, less of a dose – emerges as the real heroine of the story, and even gets to go back to her nice house at the end. Or does she? The second half of Wuthering Heights is less a structural flaw, of course, than it is the entire point. It’s the earlier chapters of Brontë’s work that should be jettisoned from film adaptations, as starting with the arrival of “sullen” Heathcliff and dwelling on his nascent moorcentric friendship with Catherine soon requires a disconcerting change of heads, with compelling child actors often replaced by less convincing grown-ups. (Laura Slattery)
Daily Mail visits Haworth to check how the "Brontë village braces for Wuthering Heights overtourism tidal wave as TikTokers make for the moors." One local historian, David Pearson, told the BBC this week that some uninitiated visitors even assume Haworth is a film set. Pearson said: 'Sometimes what is really disappointing is that people think it's not real! Increasingly you go there, and I live in the village - at the bottom of Main Street - and you get people saying "Do people actually live here?" - they think it's some sort of Disneyland.' Around 7,000 people do live in Haworth permanently and, while there's no denying the commercial benefits that the Hollywood spotlight will bring, there are mixed feelings about the tourism deluge that's likely incoming, with some locals already fearful the village could be Britain's next overtourism victim. (...) The Daily Mail spoke to Hollie Meikle, who works at the Cabinet of Curiosities, a shop selling hand-made gifts on Main Street. 'I think there's definitely been a mixed reception', says Meikle. 'I've seen both sides from locals; positive - because it's definitely good for businesses but in terms of things like parking, it is busier than usual - and parking has always been a bit of a struggle.' Trade at the family-owned shop, which has operated for four decades, has been brisk for months - thanks to the hype surrounding the film's release. 'From October through to December, on a weekend, and even during half-term, we were having to have extra staff to man the door, and queues of people waiting to get in. It was a bit unexpected, to be honest.' Pamela Howorth has run The Original Brontë Stationery Store on Main Street for 23 years. Speaking to the Daily Mail ahead of the film's release this week, she said: 'I think we knew it was going to be busy but I think it's taken us a little bit by surprise - it has drawn a lot of interest. 'When the promotion for the film started last year, we noticed an increase in visitors, and an increase in younger people visiting - people in their 20s to 30s, taking lots of pictures!' Content creators have already been sharing their 'brand trips' online of recent visits. TikToker Katie Kennedy, known as TheHistoryGossip, recently posted clips of her visit to West Yorkshire, where she ticked off the Brontë Parsonage Museum. Another user shared their tips on how to hike to 'the real life Wuthering Heights', while TikToker @Bronteeverafter suggested tourists should head to the Old Post Office in Haworth, where Brontë was said to have sent her Wuthering Heights manuscript to her publisher. (Joanna Tweedy)
Glòria Aznar: Ella está obsesionada con que le escriba la necrológica Stephen King. Usted, si tuviera que escoger a un escritor o escritora para que escribiera su necrológica, ¿con quién se quedaría? N.E.: Es una pregunta muy buena. Tengo varias opciones. Elegiría a Emily Brontë. Pero también a Keats porque tiene algunos poemas que me parecen superbonitos y que encajarían muy bien con una necrológica mía. ( Translation)
With this week’s book choice, I’m transporting you back in time to 1686, and to a very cold Icelandic village—Stykkishólmur. Fans of Jane Eyre will definitely enjoy this gothic suspense. As far as Jane Eyre retellings go, it’s one of the best I’ve read. Stylist makes an ode (verbatim) to the man in wet shirts: There’s a surprising phenomenon of men in wet shirts in period dramas, from Mr Darcy and Anthony Bridgerton to Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights. Here’s why the water-drenched look is such a sexually charged trope that can’t help but make our heroines swoon. (...) Yet sometimes it’s not so subtle. In Emerald Fennell’s erotically charged (and divisive) reimagining of Wuthering Heights, everything is doused in water and sexual energy. In what has already been dubbed an ‘incredibly moist movie’, the endless rain across the moors is an integral part of Cathy and Heathcliff’s twisted love and growing sexual tension. Heathcliff is often seen wearing white shirts, albeit not always as crisp and clean as Mr Darcy’s (which serves to reinforce his class difference to Cathy), particularly early on in the film – soaked through, forming almost a second skin to reveal an outline of what lies beneath. It’s enticing to Cathy; it piques her curiosity and desire to become more intimate with Heathcliff, as they steal rain-soaked glances at each other, exchange knowing blush-worthy looks, while Heathcliff tries to protect her from the rain with his hands around her face. The soaked-through moments are revealing without physically revealing very much at all. Cathy’s corsets protect her modesty, but she’s also subject to the wet-shirt treatment (mainly on her sleeves) to mirror Heathcliff’s own yearning and curiosity. (Jess Bacon)
It's been an epic worldwide promotional trip – and it’s seen Wuthering Heights stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi’s sizzling on-screen chemistry spill over into real life. Yesterday the pair wrapped up their much-scrutinised press tour while home in Queensland for yet another viewing. Australians Ms Robbie and Elordi made a surprise appearance at a cinema in Brisbane for their 16th screening of the film. (Katie Hind)
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