The Best Literary Movie Adaptations (In My Opinion)
At this point we’ve all seen the 2025 “Wuthering Heights” trailer…and I think we’re all a little (very very) disappointed. It’s hard to put into words just how saddened I am by historical dramas and especially literature that is overly sexualized by Hollywood. It hurts to see such genuine and beautiful prose, heartfelt feelings, true longings and love, inspired descriptions of life in a particular era of history, and creativity brutalized for the sake of, seemingly, a director’s vanity. An appreciation of storytelling has been lost. And perhaps the 2025 “Wuthering Heights” will not be as it seems (I personally like this theory), but the principle still stands: we shouldn’t bastardize classic literature. We should just tell the story beautifully, the way it was meant to be.
A Case for Loyalty
I mentioned in my review of Netflix’s Persuasion that these stories aren’t written just because the authors liked the feel of a pen in their hand, they wrote them because they had something important to say. And that message was strong enough to survive hundreds of years and inform some really powerful literature, empires, revolutions, and lives along the way.
The Best Literary Movie Adaptations
Luckily, we have some contemporary writers and filmmakers who do appreciate these classic and timeless stories and did everything in their power to create wonderful, accurate (or cleverly interpreted) adaptations that we can all watch when we don’t want the modern junk thrown at us.
1) Pride and Prejudice (1995)
Before you at me, I like both versions for different reasons. The 1995 version won out for this post because they really botched the ending of this story in the 2005 version. In terms of accuracy, Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle win.
2) Howards End (2017)
I watched this adaptation before I read the book and I was shocked at how accurate it is. I could literally envision every scene from the series as I was reading it in the book. Settings, costumes, characters, everything is spot on.
3) Sense and Sensibility (2008)
I love both the 1995 film and the 2008 series, but I go back to the 2008 version time and time again. Both do a great job of capturing the spirit, sadness, heart, and beauty of this story so you really can’t go wrong.
4) War & Peace (2016)
I’ve only read the first twenty or so chapters of War & Peace, but not that far in and I could already tell the 2016 adaptation was *chef’s kiss*. It’s a lot of story to tell, so I’m sure there is plenty that is cut, but as far as I could tell they were faithful to the basics and the characters who make that story so impactful.
Photo sourced from Amazon.com property of A&E
5) All the Light We Cannot See (2023)
While All the Light We Cannot See may not be a “classic” the adaptation was well done. Though it wasn’t absolutely an exact copy and paste sort of adaptation job, it was clear those involved had a great respect for the story.
6) The Hunger Games (2012)
I know people had their problems with these adaptations, but I personally think they are some of the best book-to-movie interpretations out there. Again, there’s a lot that they had to cut or change, which was disappointing, but the core of the story was still told and the most important points were still made.
7) Emma (2009)
I cannot express how much I love this version of Emma. Beautiful, faithful to the book, featuring Jonny Lee Miller, and just as charming and frustrating as it should be. If you have some time, let yourself get lost in this version!
At the end of the day, all I ask is that we show some devotion to the author’s creative genius and vision. If we stay faithful to them and the story they needed to tell the world, we will have beautiful adaptations that keep the story alive for generations.