The tragic tale of a tumultuous love story is retold in Director Emerald Fennell’s period romance, Wuthering Heights.

Loosely based on the classic novel by Emily Brontë, Fennell’s film unveils the story of the intense and destructive relationship between an orphan named Heathcliff and a woman from a wealthy family named Cathy at Wuthering Heights, a windswept 18th-century estate on the Yorkshire Moors.

On February 8, after the DGA membership screening in New York, Fennell discussed the making of Wuthering Heights during a Q&A moderated by Director Greta Gerwig (Barbie). She also spoke about the film in a Q&A moderated by Director J.J. Abrams (Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker) following the Los Angeles screening on February 14.

During the Los Angeles conversation, Fennell spoke about working with a large budget.

“It’s still very rare, regrettably, that women to have access to these kinds of budgets still, and especially for a movie that is in many ways a romance. So, I felt a responsibility in many ways. But also, I love building stuff. And if you’re going to play with a world that does play with the suspension of disbelief and it is surreal, to be able to physically make it, to know that it exists is really important. To be able to work with the best in the world at everything they do — the best model makers, the best stop motion animators, the costume department was like dozens and dozens of people — so to be able to do that was wonderful. It’s lovely to see it.”

Fennell’s other directorial credits include the feature Saltburn and the 2020 DGA Award-nominated feature, Promising Young Woman. She joined the DGA in 2022.