“Wuthering Heights” opens with Emerald Fennell’s vision of violent eroticism in its first scene, where a man is hanged as a crowd watches hungrily. As he dies, children gasp and point. Young couples grasp each other, and the camera zooms in on the man’s erection after he stops struggling. Like much of the film, this scene reflects the creative liberties taken by the director.
When the trailer came out, the casting of Margot Robbie as Cathy Earnshaw and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff sparked immediate controversy—particularly the decision to cast Elordi, who is white, as Heathcliff, a dark-skinned man in 18th century England. With the movie’s release, the differences between it and the source material are clearly drastic.
The 2026 film does more than modernize the story of Wuthering Heights; it hollows it out and uses the characters as vessels for new ones. It is not uncommon for directors to rewrite historical stories to appeal to modern audiences, but in this case, the story does not require an adaptation.
With Heathcliff being a white man, the differences between the Earnshaws’ and him are limited to class. With Earnshaw gambling away the family’s money, they are now at the same level of poverty as Elordi’s white Heathcliff. This retelling ignores the implication that the family mistreats Heathcliff because of racism rather than class.
This mischaracterization also creates a void of motivation. When Heathcliff returns wealthy, his only obstacle to marrying Cathy are Georgian era manners, as she is married to another man. Since they begin an affair, manners clearly do not matter to them, so why don’t they run away and be together?
Many of these issues disappear if the film casted an actor who fits Heathcliff, or if Fennell instead chose to create a Wuthering Heights inspired story. Because, other than the disregard to the source material, the movie is stunning.
The visuals are vibrant and reminiscent of Old Hollywood films, with haunting settings that make the characters feel similar to dolls in a dollhouse. Like dolls, the actors are dressed in extravagant clothes resembling theater costumes more than historical garments.
Like Fennell’s previous film, “Saltburn,” “Wuthering Heights” is as grotesque as it is sensual. The up-tight setting of 18th century England is subverted as the characters express their sexuality loudly. At the beginning, a close-up shot of Heathcliff’s scarred back shows the mix of violence and attraction. Lust and violence are prominent in the character dynamics as well. Multiple characters engage in BDSM relationships. Comparing what seems like “Fifty Shades of Heathcliff” to the 1847 novel will shock viewers: fans of the movie are confused by the lack of romance and fans of the novel are clutching their petticoats.
“Wuthering Heights” could have been a haunting, sexy historical drama, uncovering the darkest parts of upper-class society through a tragic romance. But by marketing the film as a “Wuthering Heights” adaptation and casting Elordi as a character written as a person of color, Fennell delivers a shallow misinterpretation.
