Wuthering Heights: 2026

Emeral Fennel’s 2026 adaptation of Wuthering Heights has become a cultural product of contention. The controversy has focused on the failures of her adaptation of Emily Brontë’s brilliant classic, but from the many, many things I have seen and read that adopt this stance, very few of them include any note to, or awareness of, any other film adaptation of the work. Including, most importantly, the 1939 adaptation, widely considered a classic and the standard-bearer. This is my comparison of all three works, with a focus on what has been lost in the heart of Fennel's version. Namely, real love.