Two months after it arrived (and everyone seemed to have an opinion on it), does anyone even care about Emerald Fennell’s “WUTHERING HEIGHTS” anymore? We do, I guess. We both agree this movie would be more interesting if it was far better or far worse, because middling movies just aren’t very fun! We get into the film’s characterization and aesthetics, Emily Brontë’s novel, and how the movie functions, according to Fennell herself, as an act of teenage “wish fulfillment.”

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Secondary texts referenced:

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

The Annotated Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, edited by Janet Gezari

Wuthering Heights (2011) dir. Andrea Arnold

“The 32 Best (and Worst) Wuthering Heights Adaptations” by Bilge Ebiri

Emerald Fennell profile in the Los Angeles Times

What is cinematic pleasure, you ask? We offer Nia DaCosta’s HEDDA (2025) as an answer: stylish formal choices, substantive commentary on gender/race/class, delicious sexual tension, and a transfixing titular character whose antics range from petty revenge to evil. We also manage to put the film in conversation with Saltburn (a far inferior object, Marin argues) and the panned Ryan Murphy legal drama All’s Fair (which Maggie watched during a bout of the flu).

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Yes, we’re already a month into 2026, but that’s not going to stop us from reflecting on Girlhood Movie Database’s 2025! We’re awarding our favorite films, performances, and intertextualities that we covered on this podcast, along with additional pop culture that brought us joy. Happy New Year!

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