A couple of Brontë Parsonage alerts for today and tomorrow, February 17 and 18:
Tues 17 Feb, 10am - 4pm Servant's Room, Brontë Parsonage Museum
Join storyteller Sophia Hatfield for entertaining stories and songs inspired by the ordinary folk who lived, worked and walked amidst the Brontë landscape. Featuring famous Yorkshire folk tales inspired by the servants who lived and worked at the Brontë Parsonage, choose an object to uncover a short story, featuring original live music, a curious collection of Victorian props and a whole host of charming characters. Whatever your age, expect to be transported to a world of fairies, boggarts, magic and mayhem!
Wild Wednesday: Haunt me! craft workshop
Wed 18 Feb, 10am - 3pm Brontë Event Space in the Old School Room
To mark the release of the new cinema adaptation of Wuthering Heights, join artist Julia Ogden in creating some mini film posters in celebration. Be as wild as you like! Everyone welcome. Suitable for ages 7+, with some simpler activities for younger children.
More reviews of Wuthering Heights 2026
The feeling that lingers long after is one of near hypnotism. The slow burn of Wuthering Heights not only reflects the pace of life of 18th-century England more realistically, but it also allows the pain and emotional weight of Cathy and Heathcliff’s relationship to fester and build over time.So despite ongoing debates about whether Fennell dilutes or distorts Brontë’s legacy, the film feels less like a rework, and more like excavation of the discomforting elements that underscore one of society’s most beloved romances. Strip away the spectacle, the couture, the discourse, and what remains is clear: a love story not of destiny, but of pure destruction. Whatever our souls are made of, Fennell demands it be known. (Danisha Liang in Vogue Singapur) The maximalist adaptation of the gothic romance shows great interest in production design but very little in character. For all its aesthetic excess – and though I may not agree with Fennell’s vision, I will defend its intemperance – there’s a strange small-mindedness to this adaptation, a failure of romantic imagination. I am as susceptible as anyone to overwhelming loudness, for being so smacked in the face with sublime audiovisual stimulation that it turns my brain off. (Coincidentally, the best music by Charli xcx, who composed the film’s soaring, synth-y soundtrack, does this in spades, and I include the movie opener House in that.) But the problem with hinging a film on self-destructive eroticism is that it requires a self to destruct – the messy, confusing, contradictory substance of desire. Otherwise, it’s just dress-up. (Adrian Horton in The Guardian)
Where consumerism overpowers Yorkshire winds. (...) Either way, my impression was that Margot Robbie’s corsets were not tight enough to convey the Gothic suffocation of Brontë’s novel. More crucially, I fear the Yorkshire winds stand no chance against the sweeping forces of consumerist intrigue. (Ivett Berényi in The Oxford Student)
Dark comedy and sexual symbolism abound in a fiercely feminine film with a pop video aesthetic. It’s knowingly silly at times, but it also delivers an intense reminder of the first flushes of love, a vivid sense of loss and longing, and a career-best performance from Martin Clunes, who plays Cathy’s father. Outrageous, naughty fun. ( Anna Smith in Saga)
Emerald Fennell’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ adaptation strips the novel of its racial, regional, and class dynamics, producing an empty spectacle emblematic of the erasure of working-class voices from the arts. (...) Worse still is Wuthering Heights’ empty Northern soul. The Moors scenes, filmed on the Dales, feel too tame and bright. The townsfolk only feature briefly; when they do, they are ‘sexual deviants’ who get off at the sight of a hanging man’s post-mortem erection. While Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange are immaculately designed, the surrounding land and town feel so generic that Fennell’s film might as well be set anywhere in Victorian Britain. ( Katie Tobin in Tribune Magazine)
Wasted potential and poor creative choice holds Fennell's 'Wuthering Heights' back from glory. (...) Overall, while I had fun – and the core performances are well acted – there isn’t enough in this film for me to cling to. The film can linger in scenes and subplots that feel inconsequential to the meatier themes that could be explored so well in a modern light, and that with the aforementioned blabbering above in the end just made it hard for me to connect with the film. I found it hard to connect to the emotions of regret, loss of time, lack of action that it is trying to explore, let alone the commentary on the class system and the boundaries of the time. (Luis Daly in Stratford Observer)
While "'Wuthering Heights'" is a beautiful movie, it falls short in reaching its audience in the same way the novel does because it sacrifices the core of the plot to tell a story that borrows the characters of the novel but cannot portray them sincerely. (Demiana Ghobrial in Daily Titan) If I was to describe Wuthering Heights in a succinct way I’d say two-dimensional. The world was bright and sprawling, and used its budget to the fullest. But did the film truly make me feel anything? Not really. It was a story that I could fortunately look at, but sadly couldn’t touch. It was fine overall and completely beautiful, but I daren’t say I’d ever think of these characters over their counterparts from 1847. (Kaya Şentürk in Harrogate Advertiser)
Although I found myself occasionally wondering if more would happen regarding the story, I absolutely want to rewatch this film for the visuals alone. Beautiful and unforgettable. I was particularly a fan of Alison Oliver as the eclectic, slightly psychotic, absolutely deranged Isabella Linton. She was so sweet and scary. I just don’t believe Emily Brontë was as horny as Emerald Fennell was when making this movie. I don’t know if that opinion will make you want to see the film more or less. But I think it’s worth a watch either way. (Nattia Jones in MkauGaming)
The film doesn’t capture the same emotional layers and social commentary of the novel, and can feel a bit “surface.” However, it’s also worth cutting through all of the debates, controversy and complaints of deviations from Brontë’s work and giving it a watch to form your own opinion. The lavish visuals, the romantic plot (which can be genuinely moving toward the end), the sex sex sex- for an escapist romp in the doldrums of February, it’s not a bad shout. (Rufus Punt in The Handbook)
“Wuthering Heights” is a movie about two people who deserve each other. At first, this can be said with positive connotations that slowly turn to negative. Because there are so many erotic scenes with the main characters in fancy costumes, this movie is supposedly “romantic.” I’m worried about what young romantics will take away from this movie, considering how many of them came out of last year’s “Nosferatu” with a crush on Count Orlok. I walked away from this film wanting both main characters to fall from a height – Wuthering or otherwise. (Bob Garver in Kiowa County Press)
Just as online pornography has molded a generation of young men’s sexual preferences, Ms. Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” is the logical conclusion of a female heterosexuality based not in real-life men, but fictional ones. When increasing shares of young people are completely sexless, it’s hardly surprising that young women are drawn to these books. What, after all, is the point of a sexually explicit, BDSM-inflected “Wuthering Heights” but to turn a classic novel into yet another work of spicy fan fiction? Ms. Fennell’s film is successful enough when judged as an adaptation of an erotic bodice-ripper, but it has none of the charm—and power—of Brontë’s original. (Emma Camp in Wall Street Journal) Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights is haunted by nothing. ‘Wuthering Heights’ lays traps for the audience, inviting them to search for meanings that are not there. (Charlie Lewis in Crikey)
"Every generation gets the Wuthering Heights it deserves. And Emerald Fennell’s is for the always-online" says Nadia Khomami in The Guardian: Still, when I saw it on Friday night, the cinema was packed. There were squeals, gasps and, yes, tears. It was an entertaining fever dream, with beautiful cinematography and a final sequence that leaves you devastated. When fewer people are going to film theatres, it should be welcome that “Wuthering Heights” has recouped its $80m production budget on its opening weekend. Event cinema sells tickets.
Luckily, Brontë fans who can’t abide this film have countless alternatives that cleave more faithfully to the novel’s spirit, including the 1939 version with Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier, 1992’s take with Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes and Andrea Arnold’s 2011 film. They should also be reassured that the controversy around the film has driven renewed interest in the book itself, with UK sales up 469% over the past year. That is one good thing Fennell lovers and haters can agree on. Adam White in The Independent has real problems making up his mind about the film, or Emerald Fennell, or anything, really: ‘Wuthering Heights’, then, is Emerald Fennell unleashed, a marvellously asinine exercise in style and panache, both as sumptuous and breathtaking as it is completely terrible. It’s like a birthday cake that tastes like garbage. A 20-room mansion made of sticks. I absolutely adored it, then actively despised it. Then back again. Job done, really. Long may her reign of terror continue. Vulture has a very comprehensive (and almost complete) take on 32 Wuthering Heights film versions. From the worst one ( Wuthering High 2015) to the best one Arashi go Oka 1988) passing through some very obscure and exotic versions. Impressive: Is there another novel that crosses borders and eras as smoothly as Wuthering Heights does? The recent release of Emerald Fennell’s version of Emily Brontë’s 1847 classic has prompted a new wave of debates over literary fidelity, but the truth is that Wuthering Heights works no matter the context or the culture. It is the ultimate melodrama, and despite its English origins the enthusiasm with which it has been adapted into other nations’ cinemas is proof of the visceral power of its story and themes. When the new film was first announced, I had the idea of trying to track down all its many film and TV versions — loose, faithful, or otherwise. This… turned out to be a bigger project than initially envisioned. The story has been adapted all over the world, sometimes in modern settings, often in its original setting, and occasionally in a different period entirely. (Medieval Japan? 1930s France? I’m still waiting for the sci-fi version.) I did have to limit my search to feature-length films and mini-series, because I’m not sure how I’d even track down (let alone have time to watch) a 48-episode Venezuelan telenovela from 1976 or the various Mexican telenovelas over the years, the first of which aired in 1964. Then there are the adaptations that have been lost to time. A 1920 silent feature film no longer exists. At least two early BBC versions were never preserved. But for now, here are all the film and TV adaptations of Wuthering Heights that I could get my hands on. Ranked. Screendaily publishes the box office results of UK and Ireland: Emerald Fennell’s Emily Brontë adaptation Wuthering Heights took flight at the UK-Ireland box office this weekend with a £7.6m start. The Warner Bros title took an excellent £10,030 location average, even given its 761-site release – the second-widest ever for a non-event release in the territory. (Ben Dalton)
Now, some reviews of Charli XCX's 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. Happy, belated, Valentine’s Day! (John Wohlmacher in Beats per Minute)
But Wuthering Heights (the album, pointedly un-quoted, as if it’s trying to outgrow its source material) refuses total self-seriousness. Instead, it’s a feverishly romantic valentine to the film, corseted in orchestral swells yet still beating with Charli’s signature chrome-plated pop. There are violins, yes—sawing away like they’re auditioning for a BBC period drama—but even at her most windswept, the synths land with a nightclub exactitude similar to 2024’s BRAT. The moors, it turns out, have a subwoofer. (Cam Delisle in ReadRange)
At some point after Fennell asked Charli to contribute music to Wuthering Heights, Charli raised that request and inquired about making a full-length concept album. From a creator’s standpoint, it’s a brilliant way to follow up Brat. Its ambiguous association with the film invokes inherently lower stakes, but defining it as a “concept album” still grants Charli a considerable amount of creative freedom that a proper soundtrack album might restrict. Most of what we hear in the film Wuthering Heights, for instance, isn’t Charli’s songs but Anthony Willis’ string-laden score. (Abby Jones in Stereogum)
Wuthering Heights unfolds as a shape-shifting fever dream, reveling in its strange, abrasive textures while never letting go of sharp hooks or plainspoken immediacy. Charli feels far more attuned to the dark, knotted intensity of Brontë’s original vision than its film counterpart; the emotions here aren’t framed with irony or held at arm’s length. They arrive raw and unguarded. The result is a stormy, gothic triumph. (Caroline Kelly in Extra)
The Guardian explores Olivia Chaney's song Dark Eyed Saylor and the movie: For years, Chaney’s version of Dark Eyed Sailor only existed in live YouTube clips, but she finally released a recorded version last Friday, produced by Oli Deakin (mastermind of CMAT’s albums If My Wife New I’d Be Dead and Euro-Country). She’d recorded “many” versions of it before – three were even mastered for albums, but “never quite fit”. She finally heard it fit at the Wuthering Heights premiere in Leicester Square on 5 February. What was the evening like? “Drinking champagne behind Richard E Grant?” She laughs. “Insane. I gripped my husband’s hand so tight when the song came in – hearing my voice all alone – that it reminded me of giving birth, gripping my doula’s hand so hard I nearly broke her knuckles!” The song appears again when Heathcliff returns to Cathy, now rich and grown up, and in the film’s final, longing minutes. It’s always been Chaney’s husband’s favourite recording, she adds. “It’s a song I love very much. It comes back and haunts you.” (Jude Rogers)
And more music inspired by Wuthering Heights. Far Out Magazine rescues a 1983 song bu Stevie Nicks, Wild Heart which was inspired by Wuthering Heights 1939 film. 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.
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