New ‘Wuthering Heights’ adaptation takes creative liberties

By Alfie Eville

The new film adaptation of  “Wuthering Heights” has hit the theaters, directed by Emerald Fennell and controversially starring Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff, along with Margot Robbie playing Catherine Earnshaw. This specific adaptation of the classic Emily Brontë novel shifts the theme dramatically, focusing much more on a sexual tone, playing up the romance between Heathcliff and Earnshaw. Thus, comparing this film to the original telling is rather difficult with the many creative liberties Fennell takes. 

2026’s “Wuthering Heights” has its missteps, but it does many things well, lending to quite the enjoyable watch. Despite Elordi’s casting being mired in controversy, I believe that this is one of his strongest roles, and he works so well paired with Robbie. The way he so arrogantly delivers his lines, he oozes with intelligence and confidence in the second half of the film. Elordi’s ability to act through subtle facial movements and convey such depth is brilliant and captivating. It is great to see such a talented actor expand his resume, which once began with the 2018 young adult film “The Kissing Booth.” His more recent pivot to indie and avant films like “The Sweet East,” “Saltburn” and 2025’s “Frankenstein” has paid off dividends, with Elordi not just becoming a mainstay on the silver screen, but a strong force in Hollywood. Alongside him is seasoned actress Robbie in a role I thought she played well. Robbie does nothing new in this role that she has not already shown in her other films. But for a proficient actress like her, that is by no means a knock on her abilities. I would like to give a short mention, too, to the kid-versions of Earnshaw and Heathcliff: Charlotte Mellington and Owen Cooper. For the amount of time they spent on screen, they were always so good and were also cast perfectly as lookalikes for their adult counterparts. Another great aspect was, surprisingly enough, the cinematography that Linus Sandgren brought to this film. It is no shock that the man behind the camera of such films as 2016’s “La La Land” and 2022’s “Babylon” was able to bring such a dramatic and colorful atmosphere to this film. The shots of characters on sweeping landscapes, with colorful skies behind them, as well as the extreme close-ups of their faces to aid in dramatic tension worked so wonderfully. The colors were gorgeous, and you could infer the mood and tone of the scene just by looking at the horizon and seeing the deep, brooding red tones or the breathtaking blues. Sandgren did an outstanding job. On top of his work, the production and costuming designs were out of this world perfect. Every outfit Heathcliff and Earnshaw donned were fabulous, and the large houses with their striking interiors were stellar. There is a stark difference between the Earnshaw House, where Earnshaw and Heathcliff were raised, with its low ceilings, and black uninviting exteriors.  Compared to the Linton Manor, the house Earnshaw lives in after marrying Edgar Linton, it features satin and velvet-covered everything, with large white columns surrounding it, as well as large grassy areas. It was such a good show-don’t-tell storytelling with the utilization of production design.

Despite the positives, “Wuthering Heights” has glaring flaws that need to be addressed. The most notable of these would be the aforementioned casting of Elordi. Readers of the book would know that, originally, Heathcliff is a Black man. This is not just white-washing, this is removing one of the biggest themes of the entire book. Heathcliff being Black is crucial to the angry and political tone that the book has. In the movie, the reason for Earnshaw not marrying him is a matter of wealth, but the novel explores this so much more, with Brontë exploring matters of British colonialism, racial inferiority and anxieties pertaining to racial “otherness.” Several other adaptations of “Wuthering Heights” have casted a white man in the place of Heathcliff, so I think hammering this criticism for this movie is a tad unfair, but it is understandable and completely frustrating to see another adaptation fail to include such an integral plot point of the novel. The other obvious change Fennell made for her adaptation was making it incredibly sexual — almost to a fault. Choosing to make Earnshaw and Heathcliff akin to characters in “Fifty Shades of Grey” reads to me as a misinterpretation of the novel entirely. The book is far from smut, but that is how it comes across in the movie. I was appalled by the direction this movie took. It is disrespectful how the original characters were written. This is not a film adaptation; it is a teen fanfic that was brought to the big screen. 

I must note briefly, too, regarding the score. Pop singer Charli XCX was brought on to make an original soundtrack for this movie, and despite my love for her as an artist, her electronic-pop style does not fit this gothic 19th century story. It feels way too out of place, and every time the score switched from orchestral strings to a song from her, I felt taken out of the story for a second. It was an interesting choice that ended up not working in my opinion. 

For me, this is a very difficult film to rate. It is a noticeable departure from the source material, taking creative liberties that augment the story in such a damning way. However, on its own, if under a completely separate name, the film itself is not terrible; rather enjoyable, even. If this was a new love story about two people in the 1800s, with an overtly sexual tone, then it could have been quite an enjoyable watch. The story and plot is engaging and fun to watch unfold, and the way each actor plays off each other is very well done. That being said, it is not possible for me to keep these two works totally separate. One of the most famous and important books of the 19th century deserves a respectful and proper adaptation. If the movie was its own thing, then it would yield close to four stars, but keeping in mind all the questionable decisions and changes, I must dock it and give it three stars out of five.

Alfie Eville is a freshman history and secondary education major