Ezra-Oscar Franchi, Arts & Entertainment Editor 

Charli XCX and John Cale’s song “House” was made for the upcoming Wuthering Heights soundtrack (you know, the one that goes, “I think I’m gonna die in this…house?”). This comes as a surprise to me, because despite being an avid participant in literary and cinematic social circles and online communities, I’ve only seen this song used in memes. In fact, I haven’t seen much marketing for (or talk about) Wuthering Heights at all. 

Naturally, I went looking for any details about the film, an adaptation of a novel by the same name. Emily Brontë’s gothic classic Wuthering Heights is the type of fiction your English teacher excitedly assigned in the eleventh or twelfth grade. The novel, published in 1847, centers on a young Catherine Earnshaw, her marriage of convenience to the wealthy Edgar Linton, and her forbidden romance with the orphan Heathcliff, raised alongside her, one of the very few canonically POC main characters from this time period.  

This novel was very influential upon its release, particularly because of the controversy surrounding its critique of high Victorian society (and that’s precisely why you might’ve been assigned to read it in high school). Right now, the romantasy genre, or romantic-fantasy genre, is rapidly increasing in popularity, so it’s no shock that Saltburn director Emerald Fennell wants to cash in on the dark, romantic, and tragic tale Brontë wrote so long ago. 

Initially, I felt hopeful about a modern adaptation of the novel. My hope was quickly squashed when I revisited the book and realized Fennell’s approach to the novel’s core message is exactly what could make the film flop. 

Like the novel Wuthering Heights, the movie Saltburn portrays a variety of social and romantic conflicts in wealthy circles. They’re both satires, and because of its edgy, dark plot and the admittedly stunning visuals, Saltburn performed exceptionally well, and people generally enjoyed it.  

Then the critiques started to roll in. Saltburn received widespread backlash from critics regarding its shallow commentary on the wealthy—the film offered a superficial, overly romanticized lens of the upper classes that shied away from genuine, fundamental critique. The movie seemed to deliberately portray the wealthy’s privilege as desirable, rather than offering insight into how a lack of empathy rules their lives. 

K.J. Yossman, who attended Oxford with Fennell, agrees that Saltburn “whitewashes the uglier side of the upper classes.” When it comes to the normalized abusive practices of the wealthy, such as sending their children to boarding schools, Yossman says Saltburn “[acknowledged] this tribalism,” but “[didn’t] interrogate it.” 

Considering the vast similarities between Saltburn and Wuthering Heights, it’s fair to have concerns over how Fennell will choose to portray the comparable affairs of the characters. Worse yet, Heathcliff, described as “dark-skinned” in the novel, is being played by Jacob Elordi…who is white. 

Much of the novel’s critique of high society has to do with how Heathcliff, a POC orphan taken in by Catherine’s parents, is treated by the household’s heir and the wealthy family across the street. To ignore his race and the literary value of his character’s background is to refuse the systemic abuse and classism Brontë set out to address. 

In a short interview from The Hollywood Reporter, Fennell was asked to respond to the community commentary around casting a white man in the role of a POC character. Unsurprisingly, Fennell said little to nothing about it at all. 

“Everyone who loves this book has such a personal connection to it,” Fennell began. “I think I was focusing on [the] sadomasochistic elements of it.” 

Continuing, Fennell added, “That’s the great thing about this movie—it could be made every year, and it would still be so moving and so interesting. There are so many different takes.” 

While Fennell is accurate in her identification of the novel’s sadomasochistic elements, her previous work suggests a tendency to foreground shock, intensity, and eroticized suffering—without fully interrogating the structural purpose behind those dynamics. Critics made a similar observation about Saltburn, where Fennell vividly depicts cruelty and excess, but underexamines the class systems that produce them. 

Yossman’s critique raises a similar concern here, and I wonder if Fennell’s critique on the wealthy renders itself shallow and vain because, “she herself is one of them.” 

Though there isn’t much talk about the film just yet, that doesn’t mean it’s nonexistent. In fact, avid fans of the novel are growing more vocal about their dismay with the casting choices, unaffectionately calling the film “Wuthering Whites.” 

All this to say, if Fennell goes about directing this in the same manner as her other works, I’d say we can expect Wuthering Heights to come with the same disappointment and lackluster commentary as Saltburn.