I don't even know where to begin. I have never been so disgusted and titillated by a movie in all my life. And I have watched some things, trust me!!!
This recent installment in my repertoire of borderline craptastic, is Wuthering Heights. The new one.
Now, let me put it out there first that this was not horribly acted, it was not horribly written, it was not horribly interpreted.
It was disturbing. Which if you know anything about this story, THAT is saying something!
Before I start dissecting this most recent installment, here is the list of ALL the adaptations.
Emily Brontë's classic novel Wuthering Heights has received dozens of international adaptations for television and cinema since the dawn of film. The major, definitive English-language movie and miniseries adaptations, ordered from earliest to most recent, include:
- Wuthering
Heights (1939)
- Stars: Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier
- Note: The most famous and iconic Hollywood adaptation. It only covers the first half of the book, winning an Academy Award for Best Cinematography.
- Wuthering
Heights (1970)
- Stars: Anna Calder-Marshall and Timothy Dalton
- Note: A starker, more visually sweeping period adaptation.
- Wuthering
Heights (1978)
- Stars: Kay Adshead and Ken Hutchison
- Note: A highly regarded BBC miniseries that successfully covers the entirety of the novel's generational story.
- Emily
Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1992)
- Stars: Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes
- Note: A lavish, sweeping theatrical release that spans both generations of the story.
- Wuthering
Heights (1998)
- Stars: Orla Brady and Robert Cavanah
- Note: An ITV/PBS television film praised for its passionate pacing.
- Wuthering
Heights (2009)
- Stars: Charlotte Riley and Tom Hardy
- Note: A gritty, two-part ITV series well-known for the palpable on-screen chemistry of its leads.
- Wuthering
Heights (2011)
- Stars: Kaya Scodelario and James Howson
- Note: A stark, naturalistic, and minimalist indie film known for its handheld camera work and casting Heathcliff with a Black actor.
- Wuthering
Heights (2026)
- Stars: Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi
- Note: A highly debated, stylized "vibes-based" theatrical release directed by Emerald Fennell.
As you can see, it has been made and remade many many times. I have seen most of them. But nothing compared to the original, which was the first one I watched one Saturday afternoon, doing my chores before I could go and hangout with my friends. I was dusting and PBS was on because my younger siblings had been watching some kid program. I left the TV on for background noise because everyone was out of the house and at that time, silence made me uncomfortable. To make a long story short, Wuthering Heights came on. The 1939 version, and very shortly I was sitting on the end of the coffee table, dust rag in hand, dust bunnies forgotten, totally mesmerized by what I was watching. I had only the year before read the book in high school English class, so to see it played out before my eyes was a real treat. I am not ashamed to admit, I bawled like a baby when Cathrine died. The newest rendition was no different.
What? I have a heart. It's mostly black, cold and unfeeling, but every now and again, something moves it.
Anyway, let me give you a little background into the story.
Wuthering Heights is a dark, gothic tragedy exploring toxic obsession, generational trauma, and revenge. The classic novel follows the turbulent, destructive relationship between the fierce Catherine Earnshaw and her foster brother, Heathcliff. Driven by jealousy and societal pressures, their choices spiral into a decades-long cycle of vengeance that wreaks havoc on those around them. (Thanks AI)
So, Catherine and Heathcliff grow up together, as simulated siblings. They have an incredible bond but Heathcliff is beneath Catherine's station. So she marries for money. As one does in those times. Heathcliff runs away and comes back rich, smart, and intent on ruining everything Cathrine stands for. Including her. He is just a wee bit obsessed. Yeah, I know, I know, this isn't a healthy relationship in any sense of the word, but as a young girl, we all want to be loved like that. All consuming.
The original version skirted around the violent nature of Heathcliff, his total obsession with hurting Cathrine, but this new version, which I might add is the director Emerald Fennel's vision, and he took significant liberties with the actual novel. It leaves out the whole second half, which, in context would have fit with his brutal portrayal of the relationship between Cathrine and Heathcliff. It follows their children; he removed the narrative which explained a lot of the gossip. But the most important part about the second half of the book is that it displays a multi-generational story of trauma and how the cycle of abuse is broken. In my opinion by removing the generational aspect of the story, it completely misses the point of the whole book. Once Cathrine dies, Heathcliff's madness and obsession completely take over. The movie leaves out the supernatural elements of the story as well as of the most iconic moments like the deathbed scene where Cathrine whispers, "I love my murderer."
This adaptation shows Isabella as a willing participant in her abuse, which she most definitely was not. She was terrorized. This movie softens that into a BDSM kind of relationship.
Hindley is left out and merged into Cathrines father. They let him live until the middle of the movie.
That being said, it does strip the story down to what it really is. A toxic romance, raw and unapologetic. It is sexual and sensual, and if a little BDSM disturbs you, then you will be disturbed.
What disturbed ME was the total left turn from the book, and every other movie I had seen. I was expecting what I had already seen many times. I was expecting what I had read at the very least, but I was plunged into brutal obsession, weird wallpaper (like what was up with that? Isabella wasn't that weird!) and an unexplained madness that left you wondering what happened to Heathcliff. Cathy is never born, so the revenge just stops on her death.
While it wasn't a bad movie, if you've never heard anything about Wuthering Heights it might inspire you to go looking for more, it wasn't MY Wuthering Heights. Maybe I'm a purist, maybe I'm just set in my ways. Maybe I'm just hard to satisfy, only Moviegoer Grim can answer that one. What I do know, is while it made me cry, it made me gasp, and it made me feel things, it wasn't what I wanted it to be.
Take it or leave it. I do want to give a shout-out to AI for helping with the list and the summary.
Later,
Sarcastically Cynical Sally