Biggest Differences Between the ‘Wuthering Heights' Movie and Book

This isn't quite the Wuthering Heights you read in high school.

The new movie adaptation of the classic Emily Brontë novel starring Margot Robbie (Catherine) and Jacob Elordi (Heathcliff) hits theaters Friday, February 13 - and it's already generating plenty of controversy, from the casting choices to major plot point changes.

The film currently has a 66 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, marking it fresh, with reviews all over the map.

In Us Weekly's review of the movie, we noted, "The larger takeaway here is simply what a pleasure it is to watch a bombastic period drama with such lush, beautiful production values and a truly stellar cast. With an assist from some Celtic-y pop tunes by Charli XCX, the movie is moody, depraved and, yes, romantic as it jumps between the literal world and a more stylized fantasy."

Director Emerald Fennell has said she took the aspects of the story that most appealed to her (a WTF-worthy love story between Catherine and Heathcliff) and excised the rest.

Below are some of the biggest changes in the new "Wuthering Heights" movie adaptation.

No Hindley

In the book, there is a character named Hindley, Catherine's brother, who abuses Heathcliff and basically makes him a servant. Heathcliff's poor treatment at Hindley's hand is a driving force in making Heathcliff so monstrous as an adult. In the new movie adaptation, it's Catherine's father (alcoholic and cruel) who absorbs most of these plot points and beats Heathcliff, but it's a smaller aspect of the story.

Sex

A gothic tale of yearning and madness, the book includes just a single kiss between Heathcliff and Catherine. Naturally, Fennell took some liberties here to steam up this deranged love story, including having the character have sex, as well as a full-blown affair.

Casting Controversy

In the book, Heathcliff is described as "dark skinned," which Elordi is not. There's been some controversy about whether that means Heathcliff was a person of color in the novel, however. Vulture has a good rundown explaining that this is a topic scholars have been arguing about for decades!

Sexual Provocation

In addition to Heathcliff and Catherine having a sexual relationship (see above), one of the biggest differences is how sexually charged the entire film is, from a public hanging that excites the local townspeople to random cutaways of fingers in mouths and voyeurism.

Fennell's commitment to the gross side of desire is an ongoing theme and infiltrates everything from bread baking to dinner.

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This story was originally published February 13, 2026 at 6:00 AM.