Where The Crawdads Sing Movie Review: Heart-Touching ‘Survival’ Story

Where
The
Crawdads
Sing
is
a
big
screen
adaptation
of
Delia
Owens’
best-selling,
page-turner,
mystery
novel,
helmed
by
debutant
director
Olivia
Newman.
About
a
young
woman
who
raised
herself
in
the
marshes
of
the
deep
South
–
who
finds
herself
a
suspect
in
the
murder
of
a
man
she
was
once
involved
with,
the
film
is
part
survival
story
and
part
court-room
drama.

The
film
is
presented
with
such
soulful
ensnarement
that
it’s
likely
to
draw
you
in
without
much
fanfare.
The
narrative
depicts
the
life
of
an
abandoned
young
girl
Kya
Clark
(Daisy
Edgar-Jones)
unkindly
referred
to
as
the
‘Marsh
Girl,’
who
once
lived
with
her
siblings
and
dysfunctional
parents
in
a
small
house
built
on
the
Carolina
marshes.
Her
survival
against
the
stigma
of
raising
herself
all
alone
in
the
wild
(somewhat
similar
to
Jodie
Foster’s
‘Nell’)
forms
one
part
of
the
story
while
the
other
concerns
with
heartbreak,
murder
and
then
a
courtroom
trial.
As
the
trial
unfolds,
we
are
treated
to
a
series
of
flashbacks
narrated
by
Kya
as
she
relates
her
past
to
her
lawyer,
Tom
Milton
(David
Strathairn).

There’s
a
lot
packed
into
the
‘just
above
two
hour’
runtime
but
it’s
done
with
an
inveigling
skill
–
keeping
the
audience
invested
right
from
the
first
frame
itself.
The
film
switches
between
young
Kya
(Jojo
Regina)
and
then
flashes
forward
in
time
to
when
she
is
19
years
old,
and
its
done
with
vivid
fluidity
that’s
incrementally
ameliorating.

It’s
a
fascinating
representation,
and
without
deteriorating
into
melodrama,
draws
out
a
mixture
of
feelings
and
emotions
that
leave
you
feeling
raw
and
affected.
Olivia
Newman
craft
involves
character
building
(currently
unfashionable)
and
generating
intensity
through
picture-perfect
visual
alchemy
to
draw
the
viewer
into
that
specific
period
and
backdrop
of
a
fictional
town
of
Barkley
Cove,
N.C.
towards
the
end
of
the
1960s.

The
memorable
character
portrait
is
well-aided
by
superb
performances
by
both
the
actors
essaying
Kya
–
Jojo
Regina
as
the
little
Kya
and
Daisy
Edgar-Jones
as
the
older
one.
David
Strathairn
as
Tom
Milton,
the
lawyer
who
fights
on
her
behalf
also
makes
his
presence
felt.And
so
do
Sterling
Macer
Jr.,
Michael
Hyatt
–
who
play
the
kindly
shopkeepers
who
help
her
and
Taylor
John
Smith
as
Tate,
her
first
lover
and
the
cause
of
her
heartbreak
and
disillusionment.

This
is
a
film
that
manages
to
get
you
involved
in
its
mysteries
subtly
drawing
you
in
as
the
story
progresses.
Worth
watching
for
sure!