Wuthering Heights (2026) Review

The 2026 version of Wuthering Heights is Emerald Fennell’s third feature and is already seen as one of the most controversial adaptations ever.

The Earnshaws are an old landed gentry family in Yorkshire. Despite their prestigious name, their estate has fallen into a state of disrepair, and the family patriarch (Martin Clunes) is a gambler and drunk. He also takes in a mysterious young boy, Heathcliff (Owen Cooper/Jacob Elordi), who was living on the streets of Liverpool.

As children, Heathcliff and Cathy Earnshaw (Charlotte Mellington/Margot Robbie) grow close with each other. As they grow up into adulthood, their relationship becomes more turbulent, and when Cathy ends up getting engaged to Edgar Linton (Shazad Latif), Heathcliff leaves the Wuthering Heights estate and makes his fortune.

This adaptation of Wuthering Heights was met with controversy. This was due to the casting, as the main characters in the novel were teenagers, whereas the stars were significantly older. There was controversy with Elordi due to Heathcliff in the novel being a person of colour. The first trailer emphasises sex and lust, which made literary experts worried. The critical reaction has been mixed, with a lot of criticism of how unfaithful the film was to the novel. Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent gave the film a scathing one-star review.

Fennell has already garnered a reputation for being a provocative filmmaker. Her previous film, Saltburn, had a controversial reputation and gained a lot of attention for the bathtub scene. Wuthering Heights made a statement with its opening, where a man was moaning as if he was having sex and revealing he was being hanged and getting an erection during his execution. This set the tone for the whole film since it was a lustful and lavish experience that was designed to shock.

Wuthering Heights was marketed as the big romantic film of 2026. Fennell even stated that she wanted Wuthering Heights to be “This Generation’s Titanic.” However, people familiar with the novel know Wuthering Heights was a dark, brooding story that wasn’t a romantic tale. The film came across as a celebration of toxic relationships. Heathcliff was a brute, and Cathy was a brat, and both brought out the worst in each other. The film came across like a period drama version of Crude Intentions, since they acted like extreme versions of teenagers who were psychologically torturing each other. Cathy and Heathcliff acted with malice, whilst Nelly (Hong Chau) interfered with Cathy’s relationship for her own amusement. Everyone in this film was vile to one another.

The character who had the worst fate in the film was Isabella Linton (Alison Oliver). Isabella started as a naïve young woman who initially treated Cathy as a sister, but their relationship became contentious when Isabella developed a crush on Heathcliff. In one scene, Cathy was dressed in a black Cruella de Vil-inspired outfit and humiliated Isabella, saying she couldn’t handle the man. Isabella was used as a pawn by Heathcliff in his emotional war against Cathy. Heathcliff and Isabella’s relationship came across as abusive because of how Heathcliff treated Isabella as a sex object. The film showed Isabella consented to Heathcliff’s treatment, and she was aware of his intent, but it doesn’t make the relationship any better, and it felt like Heathcliff psychologically tortured her into submission. Considering Wuthering Heights was meant to be a romance, it leads to questions about Fennell’s worldview.

This version of Wuthering Heights was a kinkier affair. There was quite a bit of BDSM in the film. The first sex scene was Cathy being in a stable just as two characters have a secret rendezvous, and used the equipment for their activities. The film showed women enjoying being dominated by their men. It was pretty much Fifty Shades of Corsets.

Whilst Wuthering Heights was troubling as an adaptation and with its themes, its production value cannot be questioned. It had an $80 million budget, which was massive for a period drama. It was a film with star power thanks to Robbie, Elordi, and Fennell, and a lot of top-tier talent behind the camera. The cinematographer was Linus Sandgren, an Academy Award winner for La La Land; the costume designer, Jacqueline Durran, won Academy Awards for Anna Karenina and Little Women, and Suzie Davies won two Academy Awards for Best Production Design for her work on Mr. Turner and Conclave. Visually, Wuthering Heights was a spectacular and lavish production. There was the natural beauty, which looked fantastic on screen. The two estates were drastically different because Wuthering Heights was a dark, decaying place that was built into the rocks, whilst Thrushcross Grange was brightly lit but looked like a doll’s house because it was too perfect and artificial. It seemed like the production team was influenced by Tim Burton, whose films had an otherworldly quality to them.

Wuthering Heights was a problematic film with its portrayal of romance and sex. Due to the visual style, this adaptation comes across as an extended music video.