SPOILERS AHEAD!
Directed by Olivia Newman and starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, Taylor John Smith, and Harris Dickinson, Where the Crawdads Sing is a coming-of-age mystery/thriller, along with a romantic storyline for the main character, Kya. The movie opens with two young boys on bicycles, who stumble upon the body of a man near the fire tower in the North Carolina marsh. The narrative is told through flashback scenes, with the murder trial taking place in 1969.
Courtesy of Sony Pictures
After growing up in a home full of alcoholism and neglect, the reclusive Kya (Daisy Edgar-Jones) has learned that you cannot trust anyone. She has been “othered” by the town of Barkley Cove, North Carolina, as the residents have called her the “Marsh Girl” since she was abandoned by her family and left to raise herself. She took interest in the flora and fauna of the marsh; she possessed a talent for life-like illustration, so she drew what she could see around her. Offering a feather as a gift, Tate (Taylor John Smith) comes along and befriends her. Over time they grow closer and when she is in her late teens, he teaches her how to read, and they start to fall for each other. He encourages her to contact publishers about writing and illustrating a book before he leaves for college.
Courtesy of Sony Pictures
After Tate leaves for college, Kya meets Chase (Harris Dickinson), who is one of the former quarterbacks for Barkley Cove and a beloved resident of the town. Chase takes interest in her and takes her on a picnic; he tries to advance their relationship without considering Kya’s feelings but she gives him a chance. They develop a romantic connection, and he talks of marrying her and being in love with her, and she gives him a seashell necklace as a token of her affection. Despite spending so much time with her, he never introduces her to family or friends, nor does he try to integrate her into his life outside the marsh.
Kya eventually finds out that Chase is engaged, and she immediately severs their relationship, which upsets Chase to the point where he finds her in the marsh and rapes her as she fights him off and escapes. Kya becomes closed off again because of this horrid violation, and when Tate returns to town, she is initially upset with him for not returning on the Fourth of July like he promised, and they soon rekindle their romance. Tate and Chase fight, and while Kya is planning a trip to meet with publishers in South Carolina, Chase is murdered.
During the trial, it is mentioned that the seashell necklace was not on Chase’s body when he was found. Since Kya seemed to have a perfect alibi, she was deemed to be innocent. She and Tate decide to get married, Kya writes and illustrates several books, and they live happily ever after… until just after Kya dies of old age and Tate discovers the seashell hidden in one of her books, confirming that Kya was the one who shoved Chase off of the fire tower to meet his end, decades before Tate discovered the shell.
Two main themes in this movie are resilience and independence, as we see Kya develop and show resilience despite the trauma that she endured as a child and later as an older teen/adult, and the blossoming independence that Kya slowly embraces while meeting new people and letting them into her world. She had to be independent to survive, and she maintained that independence while interacting with the environment and forming relationships with the people who reach out to her.
Where this film lacks true suspense and the major conclusions are rushed, the cinematography, natural beauty of the filming location, and quality of performance were the highlights in the film. Kya’s character is well-developed, yet the timeline feels a bit jumbled because the script switches back and forth from the past to the trial a few too many times to make it easy to follow, and the other characters were not as dynamic as they could have been. Beyond a few key personality traits and important interactions, Tate, Chase, Kya’s family, and several of the other character seemed to lack the substance needed to balance out Kya’s strong character. It was entertaining though, and I appreciated Edgar-Jones’ performance in this film. It was emotionally captivating and presented all-too-common societal issues that are relatable in the present as well as the past.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5
An Atlanta-based actress, model, writer, and screenwriter, Miranda started her career on stage in high school. She figured out that acting and writing were two passions of hers that allowed her to constructively express her emotions through character and narrative. In 2022, she packed up her cat and everything she owned to move across the US to Atlanta to further pursue opportunities in the entertainment industry. She is currently working on a novel and the screenplay adaptation for the novel, and enjoys designing graphics.
