It is impossible to create a book-to-movie adaptation that makes everyone happy, but not impossible to make a good one. The most successful examples are “The Hunger Games” and “Harry Potter” franchises.
When you try to adapt a book into movie form, it will not be the same. Sometimes changes happen to make the story flow better, or to make it look better on camera, but what happens when you absolutely butcher the story completely?
“Wuthering Heights,” (2026), directed by Emerald Fennell, is one of these cases.
SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE BOOK AND 2026 MOVIE!
Admittedly, I had given this movie the benefit of the doubt and thought that maybe everyone was being way too critical of it, even though I had disagreed with some of the casting choices, and thought the trailer looked a bit questionable. I always love anything related to classic novels getting turned into movies, ESPECIALLY when the original book carries heavy gothic themes—but unfortunately, what I saw in theaters could only be described as a nepo-baby’s art project trying to be deep, but not amounting to anything more than glorified fan-fiction.
Casting:
The decision to cast Jacob Elordi as one of the main characters, Heathcliff, is definitely that—a choice, because it completely takes away from the original book character. In the book, Heathcliff was a dark-skinned man, and that feature was incredibly important to his character arc, causing him to struggle with racism and prejudice. It is a huge reason there is such a divide between him and Cathy, and it makes it such an interesting and heartbreaking story. In the movie, we see Heathcliff as a poor man, but he does not face any of the racial struggles that he endures within the book.
Our lead protagonist, Cathy Earnshaw, who is played by Margot Robbie, received heavy criticism for being “too old” to play this role. Cathy is around 18 years old in the book, while Margot Robbie is 35 years old. Before seeing the movie, I didn’t think Margot Robbie’s age was an issue, and I thought she could be great at this role, but after viewing the movie, I have concluded that the only reason Fennell selected an “older” actress was so she could get away with all of the fetish and unnecessary “steamy” scenes this movie has.
“Those” scenes:
I don’t think that sex or sensuality should be vilified or banned from movies, but the use of these elements in this movie almost completely changes the message and meaning of the original story. It turns a tragic gothic romance into a sex-filled horn fest, and I would even say Fennell glorifies abuse at some points.
(TW: Animal abuse)
For example, there is a scene in the book in which Heathcliff hangs Isabella’s (sister-in-law to Cathy) dog. In the movie, Isabella (Alison Oliver) is chained to a wall by Heathcliff, and she is on all fours, panting like a dog in this odd BDSM submissive role that he gets to laugh at. I have heard people argue that this scene is a deep metaphor for abusive relationships, but considering that half of my theater was laughing during this scene, I don’t think that your metaphor landed Fennell.
Wardrobe and set design:
I think it is okay to take an artistic path to certain scenes or even full movies, but there were so many instances of this movie trying to take a shot and completely missing. It fully took me out of the story and even had me laughing at points at the absurdity of it. For example, there is the skin room (yes, SKIN) in which the walls of the room were based on Margot Robbie’s skin, where you could see freckles, and her veins blown up large on the walls.
Along with the interesting set choices, there are also the wardrobe choices, which also took me out of the story. There were constant outfit changes, and I felt like I could not keep up with every scene that had Margot Robbie in it, because her attire was completely different. And when I say outfit, I mean outfit. I can’t take this character seriously when she has diamond freckles that look like they are from the dollar store glued on her face during a tense scene. Margot Robbie is an absolutely beautiful woman, but there were many scenes where the clothing looked like it was wearing her, not the other way around.
Final thoughts:
If you enjoyed this movie, that absolutely does not mean anything bad at all, and this was just my opinion. Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi are great actors, and I have enjoyed many other films that they are in, and I don’t even think Emerald Fennell is a bad director. This is just something she should have let someone else attempt to adapt, or better yet, we already have a great story that has been around for over a hundred years! Not every book needs an adaptation, and that’s okay.