Since its publication in 1847, the great, canonical novel Wuthering Heights has inspired more than 35 film and television productions, beginning with a silent movie in 1920 and growing louder and louder over the course of a century until reaching its 2026 Emerald Fennell–directed crescendo.
In this succession of adaptations, each filmmaker has gradually softened the original form—a dark and twisted story of obsession, generational trauma, and self-destruction—into something that more closely resembles a wild, cinematic love story. These adaptations, more often than not, have given credence to the saying, “Those who don’t create, destroy”—a saying that is also, ironically, the story of Heathcliff. Though Hollywood has continuously sought to portray him onscreen as a sexy, tormented, romantic hero, Heathcliff is really more like an awful boyfriend with a personality disorder who destroys the hearts and lives of innocents.
It is a testament to our culture’s tendency to confuse toxicity with the heights of romance that when we read Catherine and Heathcliff’s story, we yearn to be loved so intensely that it might actually kill us. It’s a fantasy—and, moreover, a misunderstanding—that many of us take years to unlearn: In fact, love is not measured in units of suffering.
Everyone must process the arrival of another Wuthering Heights adaptation—one that, from the trailer alone, I predict will undo years of personal growth—in her own way. Put up your guard. Secure the windows. Hold your securely attached boyfriends tight, even if they’re kind of dumb and don’t (and never have and never will) kiss you whilst shoving you against a wall.
I myself prepared by watching all the adaptations before it, including one set in medieval Japan. And as I tracked the gradual softening of Heathcliff’s character and broadening of his emotional backstory, I discovered what might possibly be the real enduring fantasy at the heart of Wuthering Heights: that of haunting your ex forever.
What more can a girl ask for, really? Whether we’ve been dumped, ghosted, or betrayed, the most we can hope for is to show up in said man’s dream one night, forcing him to think about us. Of course, appearing in an ex’s dream carries certain risks. You have no control over what you’re wearing or how you act. (I fear that I show up in other people’s dreams the same way I show up in my own: wearing a retainer that I for some reason can’t take off.) But Cathy pulls it off perfectly.
So, in the interest of shifting the female fantasy away from toxicity, I ranked the most popular Wuthering Heights adaptations based on the fantasy I prefer to focus on: how effectively Cathy goes about haunting her ex.