WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING
***
Director: Olivia Newman
Screenplay: Lucy Alibar, based on the eponymous novel by Delia Owens.
Principal cast:
Daisy Edgar-Jones
David Strathairn
Taylor John Smith
Harris Dickinson
Michael Hyatt
Stirling Macer Jr.
Country: USA
Classification: M
Runtime:125 mins.
Australian release date: 21 July 2022.
Where the Crawdads Sing, by sophomore director Olivia Newman, is a much-anticipated cinematic interpretation of the best-selling novel by Delia Owens. The script is written by Lucy Alibar, who seems to be making a thing of movies set in the southern states of the USA, having previously written the screenplay for Beasts of the Southern Wild; this one is set in the marshlands of North Carolina, near a fictional town called Barkley Cove. It comes with a lot of cred, being produced by Reese Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter and featuring a soundtrack that includes Taylor Swift’s haunting song, Carolina, especially composed for the film. The director describes it as a “romance, an underdog story, a murder mystery, a criminal trial, with a distinctive setting that lends to the drama…” and it is undeniably all those things. Somehow, though, they don’t add up to the sum of their parts.
The central character is a young woman, Kya (English actress Daisy Edgar-Jones), known to the townsfolk as “the marsh girl,” who we learn about via flashbacks when she is on trial for murder. She was abandoned when she was a child (played by Jojo Regina) as, one by one, her mother and siblings fled her violent father. Eventually, even “Pa” left, leaving her alone in the family home where she had to learn to fend for herself, collecting mussels and fishing in the marshes (we learn that “a marsh is not a swamp”). Her only real contact was with local shop-keepers Mabel (Michael Hyatt) and her husband Jumpin’ (Sterling Mason Jr.), who became a little like surrogate parents in the way that they looked out for her. One day, Kya meets Tate (Luke David Blumm when a boy, Taylor John-Smith as a young man), who offers to teach her to read and write as she’s had almost no formal education. He’s impressed by Kya’s illustrations of the plants and animals that inhabit her environment and he encourages her to approach a publisher and their relationship develops into a romance, which comes to an end when Tate goes to college. After a while, another young man from the town, Chase (Harris Dickinson), courts her but, when his body is found in the marshes, Kya is immediately considered the primary suspect and is arrested. A kindly lawyer (David Strathairn) offers to defend her and a courtroom drama ensues as the police attempt to prove her guilt.
Where The Crawdads Sing is an intriguing tale which is undoubtedly a good read but it doesn’t bear up quite so well on screen. While the locations are authentic and the mystery is plausible, Edgar-Jones seems too perfect to be Kya: there’s never so much as a scratch on her skin and her always spotless wardrobe is pretty extensive for someone who never shops. More importantly, however, is the fact that we never really see her extraordinary talent as an amateur botanist and naturalist develop, apart from a few shots of her sketching and some drawings in her house. Thus, it’s hard to believe her transition when she becomes a successful author. This is not the fault of Edgar-Jones’ performance, which is perfectly fine, but more to do with flaws in the script. It’s difficult to successfully translate a best-seller to the screen when, often, what makes a novel so gripping is the detail surrounding the plot, giving it depth. Where The Crawdads Sing tries to be authentic to the text but lacks the detail required to completely envelop you in the murk and mire of the marsh.
Screenplay: Lucy Alibar, based on the eponymous novel by Delia Owens.
Principal cast:
Daisy Edgar-Jones
David Strathairn
Taylor John Smith
Harris Dickinson
Michael Hyatt
Stirling Macer Jr.
Country: USA
Classification: M
Runtime:125 mins.
Australian release date: 21 July 2022.
Where the Crawdads Sing, by sophomore director Olivia Newman, is a much-anticipated cinematic interpretation of the best-selling novel by Delia Owens. The script is written by Lucy Alibar, who seems to be making a thing of movies set in the southern states of the USA, having previously written the screenplay for Beasts of the Southern Wild; this one is set in the marshlands of North Carolina, near a fictional town called Barkley Cove. It comes with a lot of cred, being produced by Reese Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter and featuring a soundtrack that includes Taylor Swift’s haunting song, Carolina, especially composed for the film. The director describes it as a “romance, an underdog story, a murder mystery, a criminal trial, with a distinctive setting that lends to the drama…” and it is undeniably all those things. Somehow, though, they don’t add up to the sum of their parts.
The central character is a young woman, Kya (English actress Daisy Edgar-Jones), known to the townsfolk as “the marsh girl,” who we learn about via flashbacks when she is on trial for murder. She was abandoned when she was a child (played by Jojo Regina) as, one by one, her mother and siblings fled her violent father. Eventually, even “Pa” left, leaving her alone in the family home where she had to learn to fend for herself, collecting mussels and fishing in the marshes (we learn that “a marsh is not a swamp”). Her only real contact was with local shop-keepers Mabel (Michael Hyatt) and her husband Jumpin’ (Sterling Mason Jr.), who became a little like surrogate parents in the way that they looked out for her. One day, Kya meets Tate (Luke David Blumm when a boy, Taylor John-Smith as a young man), who offers to teach her to read and write as she’s had almost no formal education. He’s impressed by Kya’s illustrations of the plants and animals that inhabit her environment and he encourages her to approach a publisher and their relationship develops into a romance, which comes to an end when Tate goes to college. After a while, another young man from the town, Chase (Harris Dickinson), courts her but, when his body is found in the marshes, Kya is immediately considered the primary suspect and is arrested. A kindly lawyer (David Strathairn) offers to defend her and a courtroom drama ensues as the police attempt to prove her guilt.
Where The Crawdads Sing is an intriguing tale which is undoubtedly a good read but it doesn’t bear up quite so well on screen. While the locations are authentic and the mystery is plausible, Edgar-Jones seems too perfect to be Kya: there’s never so much as a scratch on her skin and her always spotless wardrobe is pretty extensive for someone who never shops. More importantly, however, is the fact that we never really see her extraordinary talent as an amateur botanist and naturalist develop, apart from a few shots of her sketching and some drawings in her house. Thus, it’s hard to believe her transition when she becomes a successful author. This is not the fault of Edgar-Jones’ performance, which is perfectly fine, but more to do with flaws in the script. It’s difficult to successfully translate a best-seller to the screen when, often, what makes a novel so gripping is the detail surrounding the plot, giving it depth. Where The Crawdads Sing tries to be authentic to the text but lacks the detail required to completely envelop you in the murk and mire of the marsh.