20s Movie Review - Where the Crawdads Sing

Director: Olivia Newman
Genre: Drama/ Mystery/ Romance
Runtime: 125 minutes
Year: 2022
Starring: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Taylor John Smith, Harris Dickinson, David Strathairn, Michael Hyatt, Sterling Macer Jr., Garrett Dillahunt, Ahna O’Reilly  

Description: A woman (Daisy Edgar-Jones) who raised herself in the marshes of the Deep South becomes a suspect in the murder of a man with whom she was once involved.

Review: “Where the Crawdads Sing” is a film based on the novel of the same name, written by Delia Owens and released in 2018. The book became extremely popular, being piced up as a favorite for Reese Witherspoon’s book club, so a movie was the logical next step.

The story is about Kya, a young girl who lives with the family in the marshes of North Carolina. Her mother has a terrible life because her father is not averse to abuse. When Kya’s mom leaves and eventually her siblings are done with the violence as well, Kya is left hopelessly behind with her father. When her father later also leaves, she is struggling to survive on her own.

When Kya grows up, she is simply known as “the marsh girl”. When suddenly, Chase Andrews, a wealthy young man from Barkley Cove, dies in a strange way, everyone in the village has their judgment ready: it was Kya, the marsh girl.  

“Where the Crawdads Sing” has a well-constructed story. Kya is portrayed as an easy victim, simply because she is different. The movie is entirely consistent with the book, only little has changed. The ending, which I did predict when I read the book, is surprising to most. The tension persists until the end of the story.

But still, the book is better. Because the tension is more present there, the movie somehow missed that mark.

Rating: 3, 5 /5