2026 has been a big year for many reasons. There was the Winter Olympics back in February; we went back to the moon for the first time since 1972 and the USA had its 250th birthday. However, in my humble opinion, as an English student, the best thing about this year has been the plethora of book to movie adaptations; from age old classics to newer stories, we have been inundated with retellings. I will admit that the cynic in me worries that this recent influx is due to our loss of originality and inability to think of new stories to tell, but the reader in me is thrilled to see the worlds that I have lost myself in come to life. So, without further ado, here is my unofficial and non-comprehensive personal ranking of the book to movie adaptations thus far in 2026.

5.

Hopefully this is a surprise to no one, but coming in on the bottom of the list we have Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights (stylized as “Wuthering Heights”). There were aspects of this film I enjoyed: the costumes were fantastic and it starred Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi (so no complaints there). Unfortunately, this is where my praise ends. It came out back in February to a significant amount of controversy but as a huge fan of the book I wanted to give it a try. About ten minutes into it I realised that being a huge fan of the book did not mean I was going to be a fan of the film, mostly because I’m not sure that Emerald Fennell was reading the same book as me, or anyone else who has ever picked up Emily Brönte. Alas, onwards and upwards we go.

4.

Coming in at number four on my list is, sadly, The Love Hypothesis, which came out on Amazon Prime less than a month ago, at the time of publishing this article. As a massive Ali Hazelwood fan, (not to brag but I read her before she was big on TikTok) I had high hopes for this one. I enjoyed it, (because when have I ever not enjoyed a fun little rom com?) but I do think it missed out or changed some parts of the book that would have made it more enjoyable. I can already hear the shouts of ‘but it’s an adaptation it’s not going to be 100% book accurate!’ I hear you, but for me this one was a fun watch that missed the mark a little. I would still recommend it though which is more than I can say about Wuthering Heights.

3.

At number three we have, possibly the most anticipated film of the year, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. I had never actually read The Odyssey until this summer but I am a big proponent of reading the book before watching the movie so I sped-read it the week before it came out (no mean feat, I might point out). I did really enjoy this one, I thought the story was told extremely well, the casting was excellent and I wasn’t ever bored despite it being three hours long. My only complaint – that I can think of right now anyway – is that it is an incredibly male centred film. I shouldn’t be surprised by this – I saw Oppenheimer – but it does dock some points for me.

2.

In second place, maybe somewhat surprisingly, we have People We Meet on Vacation which strangely came out on Netflix in the middle of January despite being a light-hearted summer rom-com. You can call me a hypocrite if you want because this adaptation also leaves out bits and changes things from the book, but it didn’t bother me that much. This is partly because I think they ensured that the overall mood of the book remained and because I first read the book by Emily Henry when it came out in 2021 and loved it but I had not read it since, meaning that I had forgotten a lot of details. Nevertheless, this has become one of my go-to rom-coms as it’s entertaining, easy to watch and has an excellent soundtrack. Would recommend, particularly when deadline season starts to hit and you need some comic relief.

1.

Finally, in first place we have Sense and Sensibility. I will admit that there may be some recency bias with this one as I just saw it last week, but it is definitely well worth a watch. It sticks closely to the book, and I think it beautifully highlights the relationship between the two sisters without losing focus on the main romantic plot. For any Austen fans out there, it had a similar feeling to the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice by Joe Wright which, for me, is a very positive thing.

So, there you have it. My rankings of the best adaptations for this year. With this information you can now go forth and do some movie-watching, coursework can wait!