Where the Crawdads Sing Is the Kind of Movie Your Mom Will Love | Review
I don’t know how I did this, but I went into Where The Crawdads Sing completely blind. I never read the book, never saw a trailer for the film, didn’t know what it was about… I didn’t even know who starred in it. I had hoped that this would make it fresh and interesting.
It didn’t.
Based on the 2018 novel by DeliaOwens, the film stars Daisy Edgar-Jones as Kya, a young woman who is not-so-affectionately known as Marsh Girl around town. Set in 1969 in North Carolina, a young man is found dead in the marsh, beneath a fire tower, with injuries that suggest it is murder, and the first – and only – suspect is the notorious Marsh Girl.
The story is less courtroom drama and much more coming-of-age story. In an inelegant fashion, when presented with her court-appointed attorney, Kya immediately opens up about her home life, and we flash back to 1953, which shows Kya (Jojo Regina) as a child, growing up in the marsh with a loving mother, several siblings, and an abusive father. One by one, they all leave her, and she is eventually left to figure out life on her own.
The story continues to cut between the courtroom and Kya’s life in the marsh. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to this: there will be a few scenes in the court, then lengthy scenes showing Kya’s life before the court case. It honestly felt like director Olivia Newman and screenwriter Lucy Alibar would have preferred to make a story about Kya’s life, and only included the courtroom portions because it was part of the book, and therefore they had to.
Kya, as a character, doesn’t fit with what you are expected to believe she is supposed to be. After speaking with a friend who read the book, I learned that Kya was supposed to be a “wild child;” borderline feral, which is completely understandable from someone who raised herself, completely alone, out in the marsh, with no electricity or running water. And yet, Kya held herself as a fairly calm, reasonable child. She is always clean, her hair is always brushed, and her clothing is well-kempt. She runs around without shoes for the entire movie but her feet aren’t muddy. Ever.
As she “grows up” and is portrayed by Edgar-Jones, the problems become different. Her mother allegedly taught her children (or, at least, Kya) how to speak properly, and that “ain’t” isn’t a real word. And yet, her mother never taught her to read or write. When Kya is a teenager and meets up with a local boy, Tate (Taylor John Smith), who was friends with her brother, he teaches her to read and write. In a matter of weeks, he has taught her the finer points of molecular biology. Not only was this wholly unrealistic, there was something upsetting in the idea that it required a boy to come in and “fix” the girl. Granted, Kya eventually uses her own knowledge of nature and drawing skills to eventually become a published naturalist – but this doesn’t happen without Tate’s suggestion, and a list of publishers from him.
Equally as upsetting was the second boy who comes into Kya’s life, Chase (Harris Dickinson), the one whom Kya is on trial for murdering. He is wealthy and one gets the feeling that he is just taking a walk on the wild side when he starts dating Kya. Kya doesn’t see that she is being used by Chase, and that makes for some very uneasy scenes.
Where the Crawdads Sing is a weirdly uncomfortable movie, on many different levels. If you haven’t read the book I can’t imagine you would want to see this movie; if you have read the book, I say proceed with great caution.
Rating: D
Where the Crawdads Sing comes to theaters on July 15.
ncG1vNJzZmibn6G5qrDEq2Wcp51kxKmx0Z5kraCVYrCzrdadmJ2rXai2r7OMq5yvoZWseqWtyKywZp2UnK6zecmopZ6rXw%3D%3D