They're not in a shrine

Bloomberg discusses what Wuthering Heights 2026 says about Hollywood's reboot obsession. We love the final statement and couldn't agree more:

“The world’s on fire with everything that’s happening, and we’ve sat talking about Wuthering Heights,” Wright says. “I think it’s all for the good, really.” (Esther Zuckerman)

Several websites compile some of the Wuthering Heights 2026 reviews: The Week, GBNeews, The Huffington Post...

Reader's Digest makes a... well, a reader's digest of what the Wuthering Heights novel and film and what is not. Newsweek and Marie Claire do something similar to the several controversies surrounding the film. Good Housekeeping lists the "surprising" changes that Emerald Fennell has made in her "breathtaking" film. Cosmopolitan, after reading some of the "savage" reviews of the film, argues why book adaptations don't need to be faithful to be good. USA Today goes again to the question of whether Wuthering Heights is really the best romance ever, or scary and violent, or both. Vulture returns to the "Is Heathcliff white?" discussion. You could never imagine what the conclusion is:

So is Heathcliff white? By Victorian standards, he’s definitely not white — and likely by ours as well. Is Heathcliff Black? Maybe! It is both historically and textually viable, but he isn’t necessarily Black.

What every scholar I spoke agreed on is that you can’t prove one reading over another (Jasmine Vojdani)

Some of the arguments are repeated in the Liverpool Echo, but adding, of course, the Liverpool connection of the book. The Irish Examiner explores the enduring appeal of the novel and chances that Heathcliff was, in fact, Irish. The Standard comments on Margot Robbie's appearance on BBC Radio 1 Breakfast, where she joined Greg James for a game of Unpopular Opinion. 

Robbie seemed to laugh off the mixed reaction as she discussed the intimate scenes with radio host Greg James on BBC Radio 1 on Tuesday.

The I, Tonya star, 35, burst out laughing when James gave his notes on the explicit nature of the romp, saying that it was: “Horny from the off.”

Robbie cracked up and said: “Love it. The first scene, I think, really sets the tone for the film.” 

James went on: “Mm hmm. My second note is, ‘Don’t remember that bit from the book.’ I've put for that bit, ‘Clifftop alone time.’”

Robbie admitted: “We called that section something else, which I won't repeat on the radio.

“I'll tell you what we used to call that rock when we were shooting when we’re off the air.”

She then shared the X-rated nickname after James promised to bleep it out on air, prompting the radio host to burst out laughing and look embarrassed.

Recalling how the cast would react to the rock in question, she said: “We'd be like, ‘Alright, up there!’” (Ekin Karasin)

The Standard has also a podcast where the film is described as "fifty shades of Earl Grey tea".

BBC has also gone to Haworth and asked 'what it's like in the village that inspired Wuthering Heights'. 

Cineworld concludes that you should go to see the film with your mates rather than your partner. Therefore is more of a Galentine (or Palentine) film than a Valentine one. Vogue Australia thinks that Margot Robbie’s Victorian revival for “Wuthering Heights” is a masterclass in method dressing. The V&A Blog discusses a recent talk by Emerald Fennell and Jacqueline Durran, the costume designer of the film, which took place at the V&A in London. FandomWire explains how Letterbox has dealt with the alleged Wuthering Heights review bombing:

With the embargo now finally lifted, the reception has been largely mixed. But amid reviews from critics, the movie, which is yet to open publicly, has already experienced review-bombing on popular review aggregator sites, including Letterboxd.

Amid these review-bombing campaigns, Letterboxd disabled all activity on the movie last week, and even though the platform didn’t issue an official reason, it may have been an attempt to avoid skewed scores ahead of release.

As of writing, Letterboxd has once again activated user activity for the movie, and it currently boasts a score of 3.3 on the platform. It appears the platform has largely filtered out the slew of review bombing attempts, highlighting a clearer consensus ahead of release. (Santanu Roy)

Deadline makes some weekend box office predictions for the film:

The first big weekend of the 2026 box office arrives Friday with three major studio movies aimed at three different demos: women, families and guys over 25. However, the tallest of them all is the Jacob Elordi-Margot Robbie pic Wuthering Heights. Warner Bros. is eyeing a $70M-$80M global opening. The Burbank lot won the MRC production for $80M over its (current) potential future parent, Netflix, which offered $150M. (Anthony D'Alessandro)

The Telegraph proposes a fraticide (and pointless) question. Which is better, Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights?

Wuthering Heights is a novel that sticks with you. I first read it aged 12, on a boring family camping holiday in Spain, and if it were not for Cathy and Heathcliff going mad on the page I would have probably gone mad too.

Neither character is a hero. Both can be selfish, arrogant and wildly unpredictable, and we see them abuse one another more often than they express affection. Yet we know that they love each other. Deeply. At 12, I had not so much as looked at a boy, but when I reread the book a few years later for my A-levels, my teenage self – encumbered with those pesky, raging hormones that plagued Cathy herself, 15, and torn between Heathcliff (the right choice for her heart, the wrong one for her lofty ambitions) and Edgar (boo!) – finally began to understand how feelings like these could take over a life; how sense could succumb to passion. (Poppie Platt) 

Jane Eyre, you say? But Jane Eyre is not even in the conversation. It should be, and will surely return to its rightful place in the general psyche in due course. Why? Because of the two most famous novels produced by the Brontë sisters during their tough, short lives in 19th-century Yorkshire, one is an awe-inspiring tale of sublime romance that tears you to shreds before finally bringing satisfaction and peace, and the other is a great big mess. And the former is Jane Eyre.

I first read it, like my esteemed colleague Poppie Platt read Wuthering Heights, aged 12. Twelve is the age to read books that explain to you what love is before you’ve had a chance to discover it for yourself. Twelve is the moment you are putting away childish things but know not whither to turn. You are indeed close in age to Jane herself who begins the book aged 10 being bullied by her horrible aunt, which feels quite a lot like the parenting you are getting at that moment, full of the prohibitions associated with childhood, rather than the greater freedoms pending adolescence should surely bring. (Serena Davies) 

Los Angeles Times asks six authors about why Wuthering Heights is still relevant today: 

Love is an experience so all-consuming and strange that we need all the help we can get. The authors that explore the vastness of the heart often serve as our guides. As “Wuthering Heights” continues to fly off of bookshelves, six authors who’ve written on love’s many fluctuations speak on their own relationships with the book and the legacy of Brontë’s text. (...)

Allie Rowbottom: (...) We are turning more and more to books that give us a dopamine hit that we are now trained by our phones to want from every little thing in life. In the case of the romance genre, “Wuthering Heights” is a contradiction to that. (...)

Melissa Broder: (...) Heathcliff as an omega man — that sort of outlier is just hot to me. And that contrasts with Catherine, more of a mainstream woman or at least positioned that way. And her love sickness rendered physical is such a beautiful and powerful literary symbol.

Upasna Barath: (...) We have the book to thank for so many tropes: forbidden love, friends-to-lovers. It created a lens through which we can look through love. It also showed how love can reside in a gray area — how inherently flawed and beautiful the act of loving is. (...)

Erin La Rosa: (...) While Heathcliff and Catherine’s love is absolutely horrifying, I do think there’s some part of me — personally — that would be over-the-moon gratified to know that the love of my life dug up my corpse so that we could turn to dust together. … We might all have a little tickle of a fantasy to have someone completely obsessed with us — the key word here is fantasy. (...)

Sophia Benoit: (...) 

Its influence is in the heightened emotional state of Heathcliff and Cathy, the stakes that Brontë develops through their love for one another. Their own personal desires and flaws really hinder them, which is a key to writing great characters. I also think that a lot of people credit Heathcliff with being in the canon of bad boys. (...)

Maurene Goo: (...)On a surface level, I think Brontë created an archetype that has lived on — the brooding, possessive self-made man type. This is like every CEO romance love interest. But I also think “Wuthering Heights” made it OK to be weird and raw in romance, to dig into those strange animal feelings that first love can conjure. (Hannah Benson)

The Conversation wonders if Wuthering Heights is romantic. According to Heathcliff in the novel, it is not:

People regularly claim Wuthering Heights as their favourite romance novel, to the exasperation of romance readers and writers. It might be considered a love story, but Wuthering Heights is not a romance.

This is clear if we look at it against the (embattled) Romance Writers of America definition: a romance novel needs a central love plot and an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. Other 19th-century classics fit the bill – Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, for instance – but Wuthering Heights does not.

The love story between Heathcliff and Catherine is certainly the element of the book most readers remember – and, indeed, many adaptations focus on it almost entirely. However, the couple are never actually together in any formal way, and their tortured relationship consumes surprisingly little page space. (...)

The appeal of a genre like dark romance – of which Wuthering Heights is surely an ancestor – is its excessive intensity. While dark romance today ends happily, the intensity of Heathcliff and Catherine’s adulterous passion might have been muted if they had ended up together in romantic bliss – and, as a result, this book might not be half so compelling.

Speaking broadly, Heathcliff and Catherine are two mostly amoral people who bring destruction to the lives of everyone around them (as well as each other). Whether or not we consider it “romantic”, it is the force of their illicit passion that has made Wuthering Heights memorable.(Jodi McAlister)

The Telegraph & Argus has an alert for today, February 11, at the Brontë Birthplace:

Regency romance will come to life just in time for Valentine’s Day through the art of letter writing.

The Brontë Birthplace in Thornton, Bradford, is hosting a Regency letter writing workshop on February 11 (tomorrow), offering a nostalgic journey into the world of quills, ink, and wax seals.

Charlotte Jones, education officer, said: "This is the second time the Regency letter writing event has been held and it is a truly magical evening.

"Letter writing was the main way to stay connected during the Regency period, with invitations, courtships, family news and gossip communicated in this way.

"It really is a lost art and this event is a way of exploring how it was done back then and keeping a bit of history alive."

The £20 workshop includes a talk on the history of letter writing, a calligraphy session, and the chance to create folded letters sealed with a "Be More Brontë" wax stamp. (Harry Williams)

Yorkshire Live features Sue Newby, Learning Officer with the Brontë Society, discussing the wonders of the Brontë Parsonage Museum:

Sue Newby works as a Learning Officer with the Brontë Society, who run the museum, and spoke about the long-lasting legacy of the famous sisters. She said: "There's something just really timeless about them." (...)

Sue added: "They were just so original, and the work was shocking at the time it was published, particularly Wuthering Heights, people said terrible things about it, they said burn it, it's depraved. It's hard for us to imagine that now.

So clearly, there was something very unusual and ahead of its time about the writing, and if you read other books written at the time, you realise how modern the writing is. So they were just incredibly talented.

"They created these wonderful characters, they made stories that were just so atmospheric and kind of timeless, and they're sort of universal stories, but they're also very rooted." (...)

Sue added: "For some people, it's the pilgrimage of a lifetime. They might have come from quite far away, and this means so much to them, to be in the house where these novels were written.

"It's got a great collection, it's beautiful. But we get a lot of families who come and stay in the area. Like you do, you look at where there is to go, and because most people have heard of the Brontës, people have a kind of awareness of it anyway, so we do get lots of people who don't really know very much about them.

"I think partly because you can look at it as this is a picture of life at that time, even if you're not that fond of the Brontës, it's fascinating to see all these original artefacts."

With a new adaptation coming out soon, there has been an increase in the number of visitors to the Parsonage Museum as well. Sue said: "We do work with lots of young artists and creatives, and people don't always approve, and say 'what's that go to do with the Brontës?'

"But they're not in a shrine, they're not just from the past. The writing is so relevant, and it just does resonate with people so much, so we just want as many people as possible to know about that, not feel a barrier."  (Sebastian McCormick)

SensaCine México hilariously titles an article about Emily Brontë: " The short and tragic life of the author of 'Wuthering Heights': she died believing in failure and never knew that she changed the history of cinema". Let's forget for a moment that the cinema did not even exist in her lifetime.