Why is Wuthering Heights in the news? Is another Kate Bush revival on the way?
It has nothing to do with Kate Bush at your window, warbling about Heathcliff and Cathy. Emily Brontë’s windswept 1847 classic has been adapted once again for the screen – but this time, Hollywood’s take on one of the great fictional romances is set to split opinion.
How can you mess up Wuthering Heights? Heathcliff, Cathy, the west Yorkshire moors – what else do you need?
How about public hangings, naughty nuns, whips, horse bridles and “suggestive” textures?
I beg your pardon?
A test screening of the film is reported to have been “highly divisive”, with many in attendance shocked by the “aggressively provocative” tone.
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Who wants an ‘aggressively provocative’ Emily Brontë?
The question is best directed to director Emerald Fennell, who has said that the novel’s “gothic world” has long had her in its “grip”.
Emerald Fennell ... Why does the name chime a bell?
She directed Saltburn, the “eat the rich” gothic tale in which Barry Keoghan plays a manipulative student who inveigles his way into the affections of a family of toffs who live in a huge house in the English countryside.
Sounds like fun!
Fun is one word for it. Bonkers is another – the film featured several hair-raising scenes, including a “can’t be unseen” finale.
Tell me more about Fennell’s Wuthering Heights?
It stars Margot Robbie as Cathy and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff. There has been some churlish grumbling about Robbie’s age (she’s in her early 30s). And there has been rumbling about Elordi’s ethnicity, given that the orphan Heathcliff is widely agreed to have been of Romany or gypsy heritage.
How have the filmmakers defended their decisions?
The movie’s casting director, Kharmel Cochrane, says Wuthering Heights is “just a book” and there is “no need to be accurate”. She added: “There’s definitely going to be some English lit fans that are not going to be happy. Wait until you see the set design, because that is even more shocking.”
What has Wuthering Heights done to deserve this?
To be fair to Fennell, the novel was controversial at the time. It depicts mental and physical abuse and hints at domestic violence, so Fennell might feel she is justified in pushing the envelope.
Why should anyone in Ireland care?
The Brontës were first-generation Irish migrants to Britain. Their father, Patrick Brunty, was the son of mixed-religion parents from Drumballyroney, Co Down, who modified his name to the more exotic – and less Irish – Brontë when he moved to Britain.
Asking for a friend – when is the film out?
It is scheduled for release in February 2026.
