How "Wuthering Heights" made you look
Queenslanders court controversy in Emerald Fennell's daring adaptation
How "Wuthering Heights" made you look
Queenslanders court controversy in Emerald Fennell's daring adaptation
Perhaps it’s audacious, or perhaps it’s a well-timed revival, but one thing is certain – Emerald Fennell’s apparent modernisation of the classic novel Wuthering Heights has stirred up a commotion, even before hitting our screens.
Ahead of its release, Contact sat down with UQ lecturer and alum Dr Bonnie Evans (Bachelor of Communication ’16, Bachelor of Arts (Honours) ’17, Doctor of Philosophy ’22) to unpack Fennell’s rendition of this iconic love story, which sees 2 Queensland-born stars cast as Heathcliff and Cathy.
By Dr Bonnie Evans
School of Communication and Arts
Design by Hayley Lees
Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of the Emily Brontë novel Wuthering Heights (1847) seems to set its intentions through its title, which is carefully enclosed in quotation marks (“Wuthering Heights”). As Fennell clarifies, the quotation marks highlight that the film is her unique version of the beloved classic: “It is Wuthering Heights, and it isn’t”.
This move seems designed from the outset to sidestep criticisms of unfaithfulness to the source text that often plague adaptations. It also seems to indicate an audacious, anachronistic and stylistically bold take on the gothic romantic classic, with racy trailers, the casting of buzzy stars Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie as Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw and a soundtrack by celebrated pop ‘brat’ Charli xcx. Fennell’s distinctive and divisive directorial vision, showcased in previous films Promising Young Woman (2020) and Saltburn (2023), has catapulted her to filmmaking stardom, courting controversy along the way.
Emerald Fennell kneels to direct a scene between Cathie (Robbie) and Heathcliffe (Elordi). 2026 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved: Photo by Jaap Buitendijk
Emerald Fennell kneels to direct a scene between Cathie (Robbie) and Heathcliffe (Elordi). 2026 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved: Photo by Jaap Buitendijk
Bringing Wuthering Heights into 2026
Fennell’s take on Wuthering Heights promises to bring the beloved classic into the 21st century, stylistically riffing on Hollywood history and dialing the drama up to 11. The promotion for “Wuthering Heights” has leaned into the high romanticism of the novel’s plot, borrowing stylistic elements from Old Hollywood’s lush romantic dramas with taglines including ‘Come Undone’ and ‘Drive Me Mad’. The poster features Elordi and Robbie locked in an embrace reminiscent of 1939’s Gone with the Wind, with the font calling to mind romance novel ‘clinch covers’ of the 70s and 80s.
Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.
Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.
Fennell’s stated mission to present her own version of Wuthering Heights has been the subject of curiosity and outrage, perhaps particularly given her own creative history. Since her 2020 debut feature Promising Young Woman, Fennell’s work has explored darkness, probing sexual taboos and violence. She has a knack for creating striking, disturbing images that lean into absurdity, often coming across as camp. Brontë’s novel treads similarly dark territory – it is possible that Heathcliff and Cathy are half-siblings, making their romance potentially incestuous, and Heathcliff, in the throes of madness, opens Cathy’s grave more than once. Nevertheless, diehard fans of the book may find Fennell’s take on these events a bridge too far from the original text.
An unfaithful adaptation?
“Wuthering Heights” (2026) is the latest in a series of released and upcoming gothic adaptations, from last year’s Nosferatu to the multiple recent adaptations of Mary Shelley’s science-fiction classic Frankenstein, which depart from realism in their costuming and mise-en-scene, favouring exaggerated colours and shapes, and creating contrast between period-appropriate design elements (such as a bustle) with modern shapes, textures and tones (a mini skirt or latex coat). Similarly, “Wuthering Heights” revels in ahistorical design elements, the styling far from faithful to the late 18th to early 19th-century setting of the novel.
These anachronistic design choices herald a wider stylistic departure from the kinds of Wuthering Heights adaptations we’ve seen in the past, which have tended towards darker colours and tones, emphasising the gloomy moors setting, which provides a melancholy backdrop to the tragic story.The black and white cinematography of the 1939 adaptation emphasises moody, deep shadows, whereas the 1992 version is dominated by cool tones, wistful blues, mossy greens and foggy grey skies. These are all far from Fennell’s stylistic excess, marked by lush opulence: the billowing gowns, diaphanous chiffon veils and modern high-shine latex, pops of bright vermillion. The trailer leans heavily into visceral, sensual and at times grotesque images, with close-ups of hands kneading bread, sweaty backs and one notable shot of an intimate moment between Heathcliff and Cathy.
Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.
Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.
But irreverent adaptations or historical retellings have also become increasingly common. One clear inspiration for the film’s tone seems to be Sofia Coppola’s cult classic Marie Antoinette (2006), which juxtaposes period costumes with a soundtrack featuring The Strokes, New Order and The Cure. We are also in an era filled with romantic adaptations, including the similarly anachronistic Bridgerton (2020-2026), alongside more recent adaptations of genre romances, including Heated Rivalry (2025-). “Wuthering Heights” is perfectly positioned at the intersection of these trends, seeming destined to make a cultural impact.
Celebrity, casting and controversy
The adaptation sees a continuation of Fennell’s creative partnership with Margot Robbie, who has produced all of Fennell’s films through her production company LuckyChap Entertainment. It also extends her work with Jacob Elordi, who starred in Saltburn as the popular and aristocratic Felix. Elordi’s casting in particular has been the subject of criticism.
In the novel, Heathcliff is described as dark-skinned, though his racial identity is kept ambiguous. In this way, the film is not exactly an outlier in the history of Wuthering Heights film or television adaptations, which have all cast a white man in the role except for Andrea Arnold’s 2011 casting of James Howson, a black actor. But the choice to cast Elordi nevertheless signals the director’s pursuit of her vision of the source text – a vision, it must be noted, that clearly does not imagine Heathcliff as a man of colour.
“Wuthering Heights” also has the distinction of being the only Wuthering Heights film adaptation to star 2 actors from Queensland: Elordi, who grew up in Brisbane, and Robbie, who was born in Dalby and raised on the Gold Coast. The casting of non-English actors is perhaps another signal from Fennell that this is not your typical period adaptation. Casting 2 Queenslanders is also a symptom of the strong influence Australian actors and creatives have on the international film industry.
To add to the film's celebrity bona fides, Charli xcx, whose commercially and critically successful 2024 album Brat launched the cultural phenomenon of ‘brat summer’, is contributing an album of original songs to the film’s soundtrack. The lead single ‘House’, by Charli and Welsh artist John Cale, who is known for being a founding member of experimental rock band The Velvet Underground, begins with a spoken word poem read aloud by Cale. The song explores themes of being trapped, beauty and perfection, followed by a disturbing sung refrain from Charli and Cale, vocals distorted: “I think I’m gonna die in this house”.
The song, which builds to a noisy, screamed crescendo, seems to foreshadow the doomed love affair between Cathy and Heathcilffe, alongside later singles from the album ‘Chains of Love’ and ‘Wall of Sound’, which similarly explore themes of being trapped and obsessive love. The contemporary soundtrack is yet another aspect of the film’s departure from the norms of period adaptations.
Celebrity, casting and controversy
The adaptation sees a continuation of Fennell’s creative partnership with Margot Robbie, who has produced all of Fennell’s films through her production company LuckyChap Entertainment. It also extends her work with Jacob Elordi, who starred in Saltburn as the popular and aristocratic Felix. Elordi’s casting in particular has been the subject of criticism.
In the novel, Heathcliff is described as dark-skinned, though his racial identity is kept ambiguous. In this way, the film is not exactly an outlier in the history of Wuthering Heights film or television adaptations, which have all cast a white man in the role except for Andrea Arnold’s 2011 casting of James Howson, a black actor. But the choice to cast Elordi nevertheless signals the director’s pursuit of her vision of the source text – a vision, it must be noted, that clearly does not imagine Heathcliff as a man of colour.
“Wuthering Heights” also has the distinction of being the only Wuthering Heights film adaptation to star 2 actors from Queensland: Elordi, who grew up in Brisbane, and Robbie, who was born in Dalby and raised on the Gold Coast. The casting of non-English actors is perhaps another signal from Fennell that this is not your typical period adaptation. Casting 2 Queenslanders is also a symptom of the strong influence Australian actors and creatives have on the international film industry.
To add to the film's celebrity bona fides, Charli xcx, whose commercially and critically successful 2024 album Brat launched the cultural phenomenon of ‘brat summer’, is contributing an album of original songs to the film’s soundtrack. The lead single ‘House’, by Charli and Welsh artist John Cale, who is known for being a founding member of experimental rock band The Velvet Underground, begins with a spoken word poem read aloud by Cale. The song explores themes of being trapped, beauty and perfection, followed by a disturbing sung refrain from Charli and Cale, vocals distorted: “I think I’m gonna die in this house”.
The song, which builds to a noisy, screamed crescendo, seems to foreshadow the doomed love affair between Cathy and Heathcilffe, alongside later singles from the album ‘Chains of Love’ and ‘Wall of Sound’, which similarly explore themes of being trapped and obsessive love. The contemporary soundtrack is yet another aspect of the film’s departure from the norms of period adaptations.
In years past, Colin Firth’s wet undershirt in the 1995 BBC miniseries adaptation of Pride and Prejudice caused a stir. In 2026, Fennell’s high-intensity, high-heat adaptation has caused one on quite another level, well in advance of its official release. In this way, Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” is much like both its source text and its characters – untameable, fearless, unruly and controversial, perhaps at times unpleasant, but irresistibly compelling nonetheless.
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