The greatest film and TV adaptations of Wuthering Heights
The short answer
– Most iconic: Wuthering Heights (1939)
– Greatest legacy: Wuthering Heights (1967)
– Most valiant attempt: Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1992)
– Most believable chemistry: Wuthering Heights (2009)
– Most accurate: Wuthering Heights (2011)
– Most “vibes-based”: “Wuthering Heights” (2026)
Wuthering Heights was initially dismissed on publication, but Emily Brontë’s only novel went on to become a classic of English literature and a cultural touchstone. Published under the pseudonym Ellis Bell in 1847, a year before she died aged 30, it was heavily influenced by the “Romance” of the time – think Byronic passion and gothic, rather than the meet-cutes of the lower-case sort – and has since inspired operas, musicals, choral work, an iconic song by Kate Bush, and even a stage musical by Cliff Richard.
This is a multi-generational story of obsession, self-involvement, and above all, of revenge. Its characters are, almost without exception, deeply unlikeable (it might be a classic now, but a critic in 1848 deplored its "vulgar depravity and unnatural horrors.") That, along with its multigenerational story, and the tonal shift in the second half, have proven a challenge for screen adaptations, with most focusing on the first half.
What is Wuthering Heights about?
Catherine and Hindley Earnshaw are raised in the family home, Wuthering Heights, on the remote Yorkshire moors. Their widowed father brings home a “castaway” boy, whom he names Heathcliff. He and Catherine become obsessed with each other, but Hindley abuses Heathcliff, treating him like an animal.
Catherine marries her wealthy neighbour, Linton, and Heathcliff leaves for three years, making his fortune to enact his revenge on society. When Catherine dies in childbirth, Heathcliff’s grief and rage coalesce into cold violence.
The best film and TV adaptations of Wuthering Heights
Most iconic: Wuthering Heights (1939)
Directed by: William Wyler
Starring: Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon
William Wyler’s 1939 film is also the earliest screen adaptation still available – the 1920 silent version has long been lost. Many of the book’s violent and abusive aspects are left out or recounted verbally rather than shown, yet the bleakness of the moors (or the best Los Angeles had to offer) underpins a film that shows how birth and status impacted happiness. Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon make a terrific pairing as Heathcliff and Catherine, with a brooding Olivier delivering his best capital-R Romantic.
Greatest legacy: Wuthering Heights (1967)
Directed by: Peter Sasdy
Starring: Ian McShane and Angela Scoular
The BBC’s four-part 1967 adaptation of Wuthering Heights put Ian McShane’s saturnine eyebrows to excellent use, together with a series of wigs befitting Adam Ant’s stage persona. But its lasting influence is musical. Kate Bush hadn’t read the book when she wrote her 1978 single ‘Wuthering Heights’, but was instead inspired by this adaptation when she caught the end of an episode. The result: one of the most enduring homages to Wuthering Heights – and arguably one of the reasons it has remained so popular for several generations.
Most valiant attempt: Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1992)
Directed by: Peter Kosminsky
Starring: Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche
The 1990s were the time for courtroom dramas and comfortable family sagas – into that came the documentary-maker Peter Kosminsky’s version of Wuthering Heights, in which a debut Ralph Fiennes makes the most of those flinty, blue eyes, and scared the wits out of audiences and critics as Heathcliff. Reimagined into the 1700s, with an un-dubbed Juliette Binoche trying her best as both Catherine and Cathy, it should be praised both for cramming in the whole story into under two hours and for putting Sinéad O'Connor into a hooded cloak as Emily Brontë.
Most believable chemistry: Wuthering Heights (2009)
Directed by: Coky Giedroyc
Starring: Tom Hardy and Charlotte Riley
Charlotte Riley and Tom Hardy managed to overcome two of television’s most unfortunate wigs to deliver a Catherine and Heathcliff that were mad, bad – and believably romantic. They have also appeared on screen together in The Take and Peaky Blinders, and it was after filming Wuthering Heights that they fell in love, going on to get married a few years later.
Most realistic: Wuthering Heights (2011)
Directed by: Andrea Arnold
Starring: James Howson and Kaya Scodelario
Andrea Arnold’s 2011 film stands out for being the only adaptation to cast a teenage Catherine (Kaya Scodelario) and a Black Heathcliff (James Howson, in his only on-screen role). Her version, with handheld camera work and minimal dialogue, focuses on their younger years and the violence that surrounded them, with no sentimentality. There is some appalling abuse – easier to skip over in a book than on screen – but it gave The Guardian’s film critic “something I never expect to get from any classic literary adaptation: the shock of the new.”
Most “vibes-based”: “Wuthering Heights” (2026)
Directed by: Emerald Fennell
Starring: Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie
Formatted as “Wuthering Heights”, and styled with gloriously anachronistic costumes, Emerald Fennell’s new interpretation has scored either rave reviews or pans, no fence-sitting here. But why not reinvent something that has plenty of faithful adaptations already? (The 1970 film starring Anna Calder-Marshall as Cathy and Timothy Dalton as Heathcliff took plenty of liberties, too.) Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi did seem strange casting for Cathy and Heathcliff – both too old and too fair – and, while the rest of the film was cast colour-blind, Fennell said she went with her vision from when she first read the book as an obsessed teenager, which also hints at the racier elements hinted at in the book.
Frequently asked questions
What are the differences between Wuthering Heights adaptations?
A key difference is how much of the book each adaptation covers. Some focus only on the relationship between Catherine and Heathcliff, while others cover the whole novel. Moreover, some are reasonably faithful to dialogue from the book, while others, such as Andrea Arnold’s 2011 version, go their own way.
Who played the best Heathcliff?
For many viewers, the best Heathcliff is the first one they saw. Timothy Dalton, Ralph Fiennes and Laurence Olivier each have their devotees, and Tom Hardy is a perennial favourite, even if that particular adaptation is less gothic.
Who played the best Catherine?
While excellent actresses have played Catherine, there’s no definitive performance. However, so thoroughly has Kate Bush defined the ghostly, keening aspect of Catherine Earnshaw through her song that she has encapsulated the story, and “Cathy”, for the best part of 50 years.