As though Brontë’s words were born from these very hillsides

A columnist discusses 'Why horny historical romances are thriving in the Trump era' in Metro.

From Bridgerton to My Lady Jane to Emerald Fennell’s forthcoming Wuthering Heights, the horny historical romance has quietly become one of the defining genres of our cultural moment.

These are stories drenched in candlelight and corsetry, where handsome dukes ravish young maidens in shadowy sitting rooms and never once ask to go play Xbox afterwards. But it’s not as if period drama material is new.

Drawn from the novels of Austen and the Brontës, these tales of passion under patriarchy have found a new audience of mostly women. But why, in 2025, are we all suddenly yearning to get to third base in a horse-drawn carriage? [...]

The fantasy at the heart of Bridgerton, My Lady Jane or Fennell’s Wuthering Heights is not simply to be desired and ravished by a man, but to be seen by a man – seen so clearly and completely that her personhood is affirmed through the act of recognition. (Brooke Ivey Johnson)

Top 10 Films recommends '13 Films Set In Yorkshire To Add To Your Watch List', including

Wuthering Heights

Dir. Andrea Arnold (2011)

Filmed across the wild moors and rugged landscapes of North Yorkshire — including Thwaite, Richmond, Muker, Leyburn, and Cotescue Park in Coverham — Andrea Arnold’s Wuthering Heights reimagines Emily Brontë’s gothic classic with raw, elemental intensity.

Far removed from the polished period dramas that preceded it, Arnold’s version strips the story to its visceral core: mud, wind, and aching emotion. Her camera lingers on textures — sodden earth, animal hides, tangled hair — immersing the viewer in a world where nature and passion are equally untamed. The familiar story of Cathy and Heathcliff becomes something startlingly real, almost pre-literary, as though Brontë’s words were born from these very hillsides.

Shot in natural light by cinematographer Robbie Ryan, Wuthering Heights transforms the Yorkshire Dales into a living force — both breathtaking and brutal. Arnold’s choice to cast a Black Heathcliff and depict the cruelty he faces grounds the tale in social realism, reclaiming the moors not as a romantic backdrop but as a battleground for class, race, and love. (Rory Fish)