With the latest release of “Wuthering Heights,” it seems like everyone has something to say when it comes to book-to-movie adaptations. Major books often get the screen treatment. Cult classics like “The Godfather,” the Harry Potter series and “The Hunger Games” are all based on best-selling books. When directors and screenwriters take on the challenge of adapting a beloved book, they know scrutiny is inevitable.
No amount of sweaty and shirtless Jacob Elordi, however, seems to have saved the movie “Wuthering Heights” from the wrath of classic readers. People argue that the director Emerald Fennell, fresh off directing “Saltburn,” was only “inspired” by the novel. However, when the name of a classic novel is plastered on posters everywhere, audiences naturally make comparisons.
The problem isn’t that adaptations change things – it’s that some strip away the very tensions that made the original matter.
Some criticism centers on the casting of Elordi as Heathcliff. Heathcliff’s racial ambiguity and outsider status are central to the social tensions that shape his relationship with Catherine and fuel the story’s revenge arc.
Historically, the Irish and Italians were considered non-white, but that context doesn’t translate neatly to today. Many argue that casting a man of color would have better preserved the racial and class tensions embedded in the story.
By removing the racism, class consciousness, generational trauma and revenge, the movie strips away the core of the story and risks becoming another measly adaptation of a book that was once described as a “compound of vulgar depravity.” “Wuthering Heights” is a book haunted by obsessive desire, and simplifying it loses the intensity that defines it.
While not a film, “Heated Rivalry” is one piece of media that’s still shaping cultural conversation months after its last episode aired. From seeing edits played at clubs to watching it shift narratives around LGBTQ+ stories, the show fully leans into the raunchy tone of the book while keeping the plot intact. It understands its audience.
In 2026, adaptations are no longer just films — they’re TikTok sound bites, fancam edits and mood-board aesthetics. A successful adaptation doesn’t just retell a story; it becomes culturally memeable. “Heated Rivalry” exploded across social media because it leaned unapologetically into its tone. “Wuthering Heights,” on the other hand, feels caught between prestige classic and sensual spectacle.
Should filmmakers use an original title if they are only loosely inspired by the text? Some adaptations change their names or clearly signal creative distance.
Retaining a famous title while selectively reshaping its themes can leave audiences feeling misled. Would the film have been culturally successful if it had distanced itself from the novel? Who knows.
That isn’t to say the cast failed. Margot Robbie and Elordi delivered committed performances. Elordi captured Heathcliff’s brooding intensity, while Robbie presented a version of Catherine that felt bratty, petty and, at times, almost shallow — a sharp departure from the tortured romantic heroine.
For now, though, it’s a Wattpad fanfiction come to life with core characteristics of the book assassinated and centered around the fact that Fennell probably wanted Elordi to run around the “Saltburn” summer house naked instead of Barry Keoghan.
Of course, no adaptation can ever be fully faithful. Film is a different medium. A two-hour runtime cannot capture the layered narration and psychological intensity of Emily Brontë’s novel. Every adaptation is an interpretation.
The question is whether it honors the spirit of the original or simply borrows its name.