Who Is Emerald Fennell, And Why Is Her Adaptation of Wuthering Heights So Polarising?

So, gothic literature is having its moment in pop culture. In the past two years, we’ve been getting fresh adaptations of beloved gothic fiction stories like Nosferatu, Frankenstein, and The Fall of The House Of Usher. The latest to join this collection: Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. 

Since the announcement of its production, it’s been getting buzz. After all, it has all the makings of being 2026’s biggest movie drop: a million dollar budget (US$80 million, to be exact), a star-studded cast featuring Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi, Owen Cooper, Hong Chau and more, and a Barbie-level press tour complete with international stops and gorgeous themed outfits (thank you Margot Robbie).

So, who is the visionary behind Wuthering Heights? 

Who Is Emerald Fennell?

The London-born Fennell grew up in the creative scene, with a jewellery designer father and author mother, Theo and Louise Fennell. Long before Wuthering Heights, Fennell was an actress who starred in a handful of high-profile shows and movies: her biggest being a stint on Netflix’s hit series The Crown as young Camilla Parker Bowles, and a cameo in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie as Midge.

Before going on to direct Wuthering Heights, she had several creative projects under her belt: The erotic film about the bored London elite, Saltburn, and the feminist revenge drama Promising Young Woman, which starred Carey Mulligan. She even dabbled in Broadway, having written the book that Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, Bad Cinderella, was adapted from.

During her career in writing and production, Fennell was already working with many members of her Wuthering Heights film: Robbie (who plays Catherine) was a producer for Promising Young Woman, while Elordi (who plays Heathcliff) and Alison Oliver (who plays Isabella) both starred in Saltburn.

Why Is Everyone Upset About Emerand Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights”?

The film has only just been released (it dropped February 12 in Singapore), and so far, the reviews have been overwhelmingly negative. The Vulture’s Alison Willmore called it a “smooth-brained” version of the original novel, while The Guardian’s Adrian Horton straight-up called it a “big movie with a very small mind” — and these aren’t even the worst of the reviews. So what’s got all these movie critics worked up? 

Here’s some important background about the book: Wuthering Heights is a gothic fiction novel written in 1847, by English author Emily Bronte. It follows the intense romance between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff and the fallout of their obsessive and destructive bond. Gothic novels like these tend to contain visceral explorations of death, horror and supernatural elements, and an ominous vibe. They’re intense, spooky and creepy – and unapologetically so. 

When gothic literature explores romance, it takes a darker route. It’s deeply passionate, obsessive, possessive, yearning…probably why most film adaptations portray a very erotic interpretation. Ironically, most gothic classics were written in the late 18th to 19th century, so they don’t even contain explicit sex scenes as they weren’t accepted then. Yet, filmmakers’ fascination with the eroticism in gothic literature has had moviegoers in a chokehold. Case in point, one of the biggest gothic adaptations in popular conscience right now: Nosferatu. 

Like other filmmakers exploring gothic book-to-movie adaptations, Fennell’s adaptation of Wuthering Heights is all about the eroticism she interpreted from the book. But here’s where things get heated: it’s a radical change from Bronte’s original story.

What did Fennell change in the “Wuthering Heights” film? (Spoilers ahead)

For starters, half the book is missing. The film only explores the development of her and Heathcliff’s relationship with little to no expansion of other key plot points from the book. The film follows the pair from their first meeting as children, to Catherine’s marriage to Edgar Linton (played by Shazad Latif), to Heathcliff’s departure and return to Wuthering Heights, then to Catherine’s death. In the film, she dies before she and Edgar even have children, so the film’s sole focus is on her and Heathcliff’s romance. Moreover, key characters from the novel are also heavily altered or completely omitted.

Nelly (played by Hong Chau) for example, is a much more involved antagonist in the film. She’s a highly educated and manipulative character who directly sabotages Catherine and Heathcliff’s relationship out of jealousy. In the novel, her main role is an observer who narrates the story. Meanwhile, Catherine’s children and her brother, Hindley, are completely omitted.

The supernatural elements are also extremely reduced. Catherine’s ghost that literally haunts the narrative, for example — she’s not in it. Another important aspect is Heathcliff’s ethnicity: Jacob Elordi is White, Heathcliff is not. This is important, because, as readers of the books would know, Heathcliff’s ethnicity is why he is so badly abused in the book. 

To the critics’ credit, most were actually fine with the historical inaccuracies – after all, a one-to-one adaptation of a gothic novel into a modern, stylised film isn’t realistic. In fact, most actually enjoyed some of the creative liberties Fennell took – the film’s costume and set design particularly gained lots of praise and attention (not to mention, Robbie’s gorgeously themed press looks). Charli XCX’s music for the film has also been making its rounds on TikTok.

Where the movie fails, in critics’ opinions, is what Fennell decided to focus on. For a film that wanted to explore the eroticism in the book, it left many...underwhelmed to say the least. After all, the film had plucked and pruned so much of the original plot and characters, there wasn’t much left for lovers of the original book to latch onto.

That said, it’s certainly a stylish movie. Whether it has the depth Bronte’s original work offers though...it seems like Fennell’s main priority was drawing out Heathcliff and Catherine’s romantic and sexual tension.

TLDR; should you watch “Wuthering Heights”?

The overall sentiment seems to be: if you loved the original book, you won’t like the movie, but if you’re going in blind, you’ll adore it.