Pop Classics, Pt. 2 — Wuthering Heights (2026)

Emerald Fennell’s new Wuthering Heights is full of stylistic provocations — skin walls, bed eggs, and light BDSM among them — but whether they are in service of, or distractions from, a bigger idea about the source material is up for debate this week. The divided reactions to Fennell’s contemporized take on an oft-adapted classic are reminiscent of the love-it-or-hate it response that greeted Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet back in 1996, which we bring back in for Connections to examine the core romantic notions driving these two tales of doomed (and frequently soaking wet) love and/or lust. And in Your Next Picture Show we continue the Wuthering Heights adaptation discussion with a couple of recommendations that illustrate some of the different tonal directions this material can take.

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