Directed by: Olivia Newman
Starring: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Harris Dickinson, Jojo Regina, Garret Dillahunt, Taylor John Smith, David Strathairn, Michael Hyatt, Sterling Macer, Jr.
Where the Crawdads Sing still works despite some of the misgivings I have about it. The movie is about a "marsh girl", who fended for herself living alone in a North Carolina swamp after her family gradually left her. You would think such a girl would have some city miles on her, be dirty, unkempt, and not look as if she emerged from a beauty shop. Nonetheless, the girl named Kya (Edgar-Jones) is still someone we care about, especially after she is charged with the murder of a local man from a wealthy family.
Kya's attorney Tom Milton (Strathairn), who came out of retirement to represent her, wants to know her story, which is told in flashbacks. Folks in the town of Barkley Cove, North Carolina sneer at Kya when she's in town and the "marsh girl" moniker is not meant to be flattering. You would think people would marvel at Kya's ability to take care of herself out in the marsh with seemingly no electricity or running water to her shack. You would also think they would cheer her on as she becomes a published naturalist/author after sending drawings of local marsh wildlife to a publisher. Nope, the only people sympathetic to her are the Black owners of the local general store (Hyatt, Macer, Jr.), who become surrogate parents to her, and local boy Tate (Smith), who teaches Kya how to read and soon they fall in love. Their love doesn't last once Tate goes away to college, promises to visit her and to watch the fireworks on July 4, and then disappears from her life.
Another young man named Chase (Dickinson) enters Kya's life and begins a relationship with her, although we sense he is likely hiding something. He's just...off, but the lonely Kya still falls for him. This proves to be mistake and leads to Chase winding up dead at the foot of a watch tower with Kya accused of pushing him to his death. The case against her isn't strong, but the prosecutor is relying on the public's disdain for Kya to win him a conviction. Again, why the townsfolk would be so hostile towards the sweet, quiet, angelic Kya is something which may be chalked up to contrived class warfare if little else.
Even with these incredulous plot holes, Where the Crawdads Sing is still absorbing because Daisy Edgar-Jones plays a sympathetic protagonist who manages to make something of herself despite her harrowing upbringing with a family that leaves her one by one. First her sisters leave, then her beloved brother, then her mother, then her father. The sisters, brother, and mother leave to escape the alcoholic, abusive Pa (Dillahunt). Pa leaves because he's a selfish dick who has no interest in raising Kya or kicking his alcoholism. Where the Crawdads Sing also relies on the tried and true suspense of a murder trial, which is both safe but also effective.
Where the Crawdads Sing is based on Delia Owens' best-selling novel which I read has sold over twelve million copies following Reese Witherspoon's endorsement in her Hello Sunshine book club. (Witherspoon also serves as an executive producer). I can't say how faithful the movie is to the book, but the Edgar-Jones performance breathes life into it. She has an Anne Hathaway-type of beauty combined with intelligence and an ability to convey deep hurts while still seeming optimistic about the future. I think she'll be going places. The movie itself looks beautiful with a stirring Mychael Danna score, reminiscent of The Prince of Tides and even The Notebook. Parts of Where the Crawdads Sing don't hold up under much scrutiny, but the experience as a whole is worthwhile.
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