Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte: Book vs. Movie

Beware! This post contains spoilers!

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Book vs. Movie

Published November 24th, 1847/Released February 14th, 2026

Genres: Classics, Gothic, Romance

With all the anticipated hype around Emerald Fennell’s new Wuthering Heights adaptation, I was finally motivated to pick up the classic gothic novel. The book itself, while dark and twisted, I ended up really enjoying. Unsurprisingly, given its reputation, Wuthering Heights is an incredibly well-written, captivating, and thought-provoking tale. Bronte’s commentary on class, romance, revenge, and the cycle of abuse is expertly interwoven in this haunting, genre-defying story of two families, set against the omnipresent backdrop of the Yorkshire moors.

The movie on the other hand, is… not that.

For one thing, outside of the location and a few specific plot beats, it’s hardly recognizable as the same story. English literature students beware! Don’t be fooled into thinking you can substitute this movie for reading the actual book, because they barely have anything in common.

I should preface my thoughts on this film by sharing that I have not in fact watched any other Wuthering Heights adaptations. Maybe my concerns here are present in all other versions, and I’m holding Fennell to an impossible standard, I can’t be sure.

Nevertheless, I struggled with this adaptation. I felt like outside of keeping the characters names and the Yorkshire moors backdrop, this was not the story I had been promised. Almost everything, and I mean everything, was different. The movie’s plot cut out the entire second half of the story, and what it kept in was not faithfully adapted at all.

Original plot points, of the few of which that were included, took place in a random order, and direct quotes, where they existed, were completely misconstrued so as to mean the exact opposite of what they originally intended. Catherine and Heathcliff didn’t even feel like the same characters (nor did anyone else, for that matter). The one or two scenes when they properly emulated their book counterparts stuck out like sore thumbs due to the inconsistency with the rest of their storylines. This alongside all the random changes that didn’t feel purposeful, like Joseph being young (well, with the exception of that one specific reason), and unnecessary simplifications of the text (such as combining Mr. Earnshaw and Hindley’s characters) it didn’t even feel like there was a point to calling it an adaptation. The original meaning of the text was completely lost.

If you’re going to change literally all of the characters, cut out 80% of the original story, and re-order and re-contextualize the other 20%, why bother even calling it “Wuthering Heights”?

I think if you go into this movie with zero expectations of it being Wuthering Heights and instead anticipate a trope-y gothic romance, heavy on the maximalist, absurdist vibes, you might enjoy it. The only thing that saved it from being completely unwatchable for me was the acting, despite the absolute mismatch in casting (why is Heathcliff white?!). Had I not read the book before seeing the movie, I probably would have liked it more. But probably only just a little bit.

Have you seen the new Wurthering Heights adaptation?

What were your thoughts?

Let me know!