The Movie 2026 Can't Stop Arguing About Hits HBO Max Soon
Four months into 2026, Emerald Fennell’s risqué Wuthering Heights has seized the crown as the year’s most controversial film, outpacing even The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. With bedroom scenes Brontë never wrote and a parade of suggestive, fruit-soaked imagery, this feverish adaptation is shredding the canon and setting timelines ablaze.
Four months into 2026 and we already have the year’s loudest movie argument: Emerald Fennell’s 'Wuthering Heights.' Apologies to 'The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,' but this one grabbed the discourse by the collar and would not let go.
Why everyone has been yelling about this one
Fennell’s take on Emily Bronte’s 1847 classic is intentionally provocative: sex scenes the book never had, and a whole orchard’s worth of suggestive fruit imagery standing in for, well, you know. It ’s lush, it’s overheated, and it turned into a lightning rod. The trailer alone sparked split reactions, and the movie itself doubled down, which clearly worked at the box office — it’s already at $241 million worldwide.
Streaming basics
- Date: May 1
- Where: HBO Max ( Warner Bros. title, so it lands there first)
- Later: Could license out to places like Prime Video or Netflix down the road, but expect HBO Max to keep it as home base through 2026 and beyond
What it is, in plain English
We’re in late 18th-century England. Margot Robbie plays Catherine 'Cathy' Earnshaw. Jacob Elordi plays Heathcliff. Their thing starts as a grand, aching romance and spirals into obsession — love curdled into something intoxicating and destructive. It’s a big, swoony tale of lust, love, and madness.
Why is their love 'forbidden'? Class and proximity. Heathcliff begins with nothing; Cathy has wealth and status. Also, they grow up in the same household. They’re not related by blood, but they are raised like siblings, which gives their later passion an uncomfortable edge the movie leans into.
Who is behind it (and in it)
Emerald Fennell writes and directs, pushing the material into vibrant, thorny territory. The star pairing is the hook: two Australian heavy-hitters, Robbie and Elordi, burning through moors and morals.
So... is it any good?
Short answer: yes, with caveats. Longer answer: it’s a fascinating swing that I don’t think fully connects. Robbie brings serious voltage, but she reads a bit too worldly for Cathy, who’s usually imagined as a younger, wilder Gothic heroine — part of why Kate Bush’s 'Wuthering Heights' works so well is you believe she’s singing as that ghostly, yearning Cathy. Elordi fares better, though his casting isn’t without its own question marks.
That said, the movie looks fantastic and it is never dull. Fennell keeps tossing audacious ideas at the screen; even when they miss, you’re watching with eyebrows up. The pop soundtrack by Charli XCX absolutely slaps — 'Chains of Love' has already become the global heartbreak anthem it was clearly engineered to be.
If you want a different flavor
If you prefer an adaptation that stays closer to the bone but still feels modern, Andrea Arnold’s 2011 'Wuthering Heights' is terrific. It’s currently streaming on Tubi and YouTube.