WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING (2022) – Familiar tale of romance set in the marshlands

The movie starts off very well with the picturesque birds eye view of the marsh land and greenery of the Deep South, North Carolina. A voice over narration provided an excellent prolouge to the story as the camera sweeps through the natural surroundings. It indeed felt like we were snuggling in a nice cosy sofa reading a novel. Where the Crawdad Sings is afterall based on the best seller 2018 novel by Delia Owens, so it was an apt beginning.

The narration soon gave way to the movie proper as we are introduced to the low-key Kya (aka The Marsh Girl) who lives alone in the marsh land, but somehow becomes a suspect in the murder of a local jock found dead in the forest because of her romantic involvement with him. The plot then reveals the tragic past of Kya through flash backs as the trial proceeds. It takes place in the late 1960’s, an era without the internet and mobile phones, and where racial and class prejudice were still openly displayed. Within this tapestry, Delia Owens is able to paint a colourful background over what is essentially a pretty straight forward love story with the familiar ups and downs the character experiences in romance. I have to admit that years of movie watching have taught me never to expect the obvious and that there much be some sort of “surprise” element at the end. Otherwise, what’s the point of the whole story if things just progress in on straight line. So, despite not having the benefit of reading the novel or any awareness of the story beforehand, I could easily guess the conclusion. Nevertheless director, Olivia Newman does a decent job in keeping the narration tight and engaging enough for me to sit through the whole thing even though I sort of had a good idea what the “surprise ending” was going to be.

Daisy Edgar-Jones who was last seen in the thriller Fresh, plays Kya. I thought she was better in Fresh which allowed her character to display a wider range of emotions. Here, she appears throughout at one constant level maintaining her character’s calm and squeaky clean image. The other supporting characters were also quite standard with no one particularly standing out. One of the film’s highlights for me was the beautiful original song “Carolina”, written and sung by Taylor Shift which gets played at the end credit roll. The haunting ballet matched the mood and theme of the story perfectly and provided an apt conclusion for the movie.

Where the Crawdads Sing, is reasonable entertainment with its plus and minus points. Don’t expect a sweeping tale of romance as it is quiet and unambitious. Think of it more like a “Nicholas Sparks” lite story.