The 2026 adaptation of the 1847 novel “Wuthering Heights” is a romantic drama about the relationship between two star-crossed lovers that takes place in the vast green fields of Yorkshire in 1800s England. The book, having been adapted into film twice beforehand, is known for being a classic in romantic literature, but this latest iteration, directed by Academy Award winner Emerald Fennell, takes so many creative liberties that the film is almost unrecognizable from the story it’s based on. 

Additionally, its marketing campaign seems to frame the lead actors as bewitched by the others’ presence, which then leads to performances that seem underwhelming. The film goes in so many directions to make the characters seem interesting, but the attempt at pulling heartstrings feels forced. 

Heathcliff, played by Jacob Elordi, is portrayed as a massive brute with a deep connection to his childhood friend Catherine, played by Margot Robbie. His father adopted him as a boy after he was found on the streets of Liverpool, England. 

In the book, Catherine and Heathcliff have such an immense fascination with each other that it is portrayed as having ‘one soul in two bodies.’ However, their relationship in the film is more lustful and physical, distracting from their aforementioned bond. The interconnectedness has vanished, and is replaced with a feeling that the only reason they like each other is familiarity, not relatability.

Heathcliff views Catherine as an object of lust he can’t live without, while Catherine is very hesitant and unsure of what she wants. She loves Heathcliff, but she wants more from life. 

When she’s forced to marry by her father, she hesitates but eventually agrees to marry Edgar Linton, played by Shazad Latif. In the book, she marries Shazad to get away from her brother Hindley and not be a beggar with Heathcliff. Hindley is the abusive older brother of Catherine and the tormentor of Heathcliff growing up. 

In this adaptation, however, Hindley’s character is removed from the film entirely. Instead, that role is given to Catherine’s father, played by Martin Clunes, who is more of a bumbling drunk who seems to be a very little threat and has very little screentime beyond the first 20 to 30 minutes.

Heathcliff is an obsessive and emotionally aggressive person who wants to be with Catherine so deeply that he builds a vast fortune on his own just to impress her. The film’s attempt at making him more meaningful falls flat, and it’s truly a wonder why Catherine likes this newfound man he becomes. 

Overall, the romance of the film doesn’t feel like the two are soulmates, and feels more like the characters are merely attracted to each other. This attempt at making them more sexually attracted to each other rather than romantically is given reason through the film’s audacious marketing, with Robbie saying in an interview with Fandango that she feels “codependent” with Elordi, and felt “like a kid without her blanket” when Elordi wasn’t nearby on set. 

The choice seems like an effort to mirror the characters’ obsession with each other in the movie by trying to make it seem like the actors had real chemistry that made the relationship on screen more real. This would have been great if the characters were at all likable, but instead both Catherine and Heathcliff betray the people around them and continuously make bad choices, all so they can tiptoe around the wall that is their relationship. 

Overall, “Wuthering Heights” seems like a very condensed version of the book, with important plot points left out and a very negative outlook on romantic attraction. It insists that the two leads are people who truly deserve good things, while mistakenly proving the opposite. Additionally, its sense of drama is a hollow attempt at a romance blossoming from childhood, and leaves viewers unsatisfied with little character growth and long, drawn-out sequences of dialogue and ill-conceived romance that could be better spent elsewhere.