Origin and release year: United States (2022 – Where The Crawdads Sing)
Starring: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Taylor John Smith, Harris Dickinson, David Strathairn, Jojo Regina, Garret Dillahunt, Bill Kelly, Logan Macrae, Caroline Cole, Michael Hyatt, Sterling Macer Jr., Sarah Durn, Taylor Shurte, Joe Chrest, Blue Clarke, Dane Rhodes, Jayson Warner Smith
Director: Olivia Newman
Screenwriter: Lucy Alibar (based on the book by Delia Owens)
Synopsis: A woman 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. (IMDb)
If you’re also a fan of the book, make sure to check out our Where the Crawdads Sing book review, too!
Produced by Reese Witherspoon, this film was quite well-done. Much like how the book immediately transported us into the world of the narrative, the Where The Crawdads Sing film immediately sucked us in and immersed us into the world of the marsh. One of the book’s best strengths is its descriptiveness, and the mis-en-scene of the movie portrayed exactly that.
One of the more riveting parts of the storyline was the courtroom drama aspect. Whilst many argue that this part added a bit of discombobulation to the film, this writer personally felt that the story would’ve been boring without those scenes. The reason being that the story in itself is quite wholesome despite any unfair moments.
A huge factor that could be accredited to the decent viewing quality of the film is the casting of Daisy Edgar-Jones as Kya. Her acting had the same almost Jungle Book-esque Mowgli-ness to it in the beginning that Kya boasts in the novel. This evolved into a beautiful portrayal of a typical coming-of-age protagonist. She was awkward but graceful at the same time and rough around the edges but meek and tough at the same time.
The film stuck to the book a lot, which means there was no surprise factor or plot twist beyond what we had read before. In fact, the Where The Crawdads Sing film would probably be a lot more exciting if you watch it without having read the book first. This was a bit of a shame as it would’ve been nice to have the visual storytelling aspect for a fresh plot twist.
However, despite this, there was nothing majorly wrong with the film. It was solid. Not mindblowing, but solid enough.
What did you think of Where the Crawdads Sing? Let us know in the comments!