Have you seen the 2026 film adaptation of the classic novel Wuthering Heights? Well, if you have not, save yourself! This movie was hot garbage.
After seeing the casting of popular A-list actors (Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi), I knew this would not end well. Yet, I still had hope. Unfortunately, the film turned a piece of classic literature into a sexualized piece of media that directly reflects the polluted minds of 2026 Americans.
The book was written around 1845-1846, when erotica was often hidden. There were several unnecessary sex scenes within the film that never had a place in the original novel. Additionally, the main characters’ (Heathcliff and Catherine) story was never one of love, but rather of obsessive, ego-crushing pining. In the movie, this is hard to interpret.
Catherine came from a poor family. When her father spotted Heathcliff, they took him in and had him work for the family. The two children grew up together, but Catherine knew she could not be with such a man in the future. In the movie, their romance was reduced to that of Catherine simply wanting a rich man so she could live a better life. The film skips over the yearning of the characters that takes place over several years and family generations. It instead replaces it with the two having quickies in hiding. In the novel, these scenes do not exist, and it could rather be implied what the two could have done in passing, if they even were sexual at all. The original storyline focuses on the emotional and spiritual connection of the two, and reading it was torturous. Unfortunately, I did not feel the same way upon viewing the film.
Furthermore, some of my favorite scenes from the book were not included. For instance, the film ended when Catherine died. In the book, Heathcliff goes on to live his life after Catherine’s death, but always thinks of her. Even though she has been rotting in the ground for years, Heathcliff ends up tampering with her coffin, so they can be buried together at the end of his life.
Overall, Emerald Fennell turned a beautiful piece of work into one of the worst movies I have watched. If I had not already fallen in love with the book, I would never pick it up after tarnishing my eyes with such filth.