On set of Where the Crawdads Sing movie

Movie Review: Where the Crawdads Sing (2022)

By peerynt | Whizzing Tripod | 22 Jul 2022


[The photos in this post are from Elle Australia website, used here on Fair Use basis.]

Not every day one stumbles upon a fictional story that comes with a legend attached to it about a real life murder case, when the original author is wanted for questioning by authorities in Zambia. Delia Owens, American zoologist and conservationist, born in 1949, who’s debut novel Where the Crawdads Sing is currently among the best selling books on Amazon after being a New York Times bestseller two years ago, denies any involvement in what she’s being suspected of and yet, no one really doubts she isn’t fond of poachers.

Delia Owens on the set of Where the Crawdads Sing movie

Author Delia Owens on set of Where the Crawdads Sing movie.

The scenery in Where the Crawdads Sing, the new film directed by Olivia Newman and based on the aforementioned novel, is one you would expect from an award winning student of wildlife and its behavioural patterns, however nothing could prepare someone like me, who’s never lived in marshes, for captivating, and just plain stunning views the camera reveals from marshlands around New Orleans (even though the events in the book as well as the film take place in North Carolina). No wonder the actress playing the lead character Kya, Daisy Jessica Edgar-Jones was in awe about everything at movie’s shooting locations: it is a fairytale-like world; not exactly a forest, not a lake either, but something in-between – inhabitants there use motorboats to get around, and to get to the boat dock, where one also finds the local shop which provides all the basic supplies that people in the nearby area need. In these settings Kya is eventually left on her own at an early age with her family members leaving, one after the other. The reason for things happening this way is Kya’s father (played by Garret Dillahunt, who’s acting credits include roles in TV series Fear the Walking Dead and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, as well as those in the movies Army of the Dead, Winter’s Bone and No Country for Old Men), who is used to solve problems and get his way by means of physical abuse, which is often made worse by his drinking habits. Peculiarly, the guy whom you’re not supposed to like (and likely won’t like), named Chase Andrews (played by Harris Dickinson) is the one who points out the silver lining to all the antagonistic circumstances Kya has had to deal with to survive: years of having no parents who tell you what to do. That was the moment, which instantly expanded my view about everything related to the lead heroine. Up until that point I felt pity for the abandoned girl; the feeling which was deepened by the fact that someone like her depended on pity of others to survive. Yet what one may not necessary realize is the level of freedom that comes with circumstances like those of Kya. I think the more one understands the value of personal freedom, the more one would appreciate the unique opportunities those circumstances offer.

In Where the Crawdads Sing there is a lot of background of someone who’s dedicated their whole life to wildlife; the fact which turns out to be very important to Kya in terms of finding new means of supporting herself. Yet what is being brought to the fore in the film are relationships in what can be seen as a coming-of-age drama, partially taking place in a court room. The drama in it is a synthesis of all the typical features and experiences of an outcast, the odd one; particularly when that disparate person happens to be a young girl. Particularly, if that young girl happens to live in 1960s in Deep South of the US, where among the very few people she can trust is the couple of local black shop owners (Michael Hyatt and Sterling Macer Jr.) during the time of racial segregation, who’s faith turns out to be instrumental when supporting Kya, reminding the spectator about why that religion exists in the first place. I have always found it to be a bit curious how religion is always at its best and strongest when there is a considerable danger to survival present, and in some strange way Where the Crawdads Sing manages to touch on that topic in an unexpected manner. To be fair, there is nothing to suggest Kya herself is religious; this is all about some Bible quoting, which is being heard at one of the key moments in the film. It takes place in the aforementioned shop, where later on we will hear the truth of thousand women being spoken by mouth of Kya about why no one would take her story seriously and why she is not set to win even if justice would be on her side. All things considered, hers is a difficult yet powerful story, and one can only admire the way the writer Lucy Alibar has managed to turn the novel into a coherent, meaningful and important message from the past that should be heard to understand the bigger picture of the last century as well as why it’s important today.

Daisy Edgar-Jones on set of Where the Crawdads Sing movie

Daisy Edgar-Jones on set of Where the Crawdads Sing movie.

While the performances of the main cast in Where the Crawdads Sing are indeed top-notch, where you don’t get slightest doubt about the actors and the actress all fully investing themselves, the characters at certain points get problematic. First and foremost the problem with Chase. Even with all the understanding that Kya is an innocent, inexperienced marsh girl, the way she gets involved with the guy is just something that, in my opinion, wouldn’t happen. Because guys, even if they happen to be local football stars, just don’t get dates by simply stating that at that and that time they will come and get the girl they’ve never talked to before. The question I’d have expected Kya to be asking, namely “what do you want with me?” comes a tad bit later on in the film. To put it in a different way – a no questions asked date with a guy the girl sees for the first time – suspension of disbelief much?

Secondly, Kya. Quite a civilized girl for someone who’s been spending most of her adolescent life in wilderness. By the time she meets Tate Walker (played by Taylor John Smith) I would imagine her having a very good idea about the difference between a life in marshland and that in urban environment; about what she would never give up, and what she will always be part of. Kya in the film leaves an impression of being everything but wild. I can’t say I’d have expected Ms. Daisy to be as supernatural and electrifying as the siren from Jibaro episode of Love, Death & Robots, neither did I think I would see a female Mowgli in Crawdads, yet I couldn’t shake off the feeling that Kya is a version of toned down or even oppressed coming-of-age storm. Wildlife is never that mild and tame, especially growing up without parents and witnessing problem solving using violence at a very young age. (To be clear, I don’t think this part in the whole story had much to do with acting skills.)

Wrapping this review up, I would like to mention one other thing for those who are going to pay to see the film – you are not going to get a conclusive answer about everything regarding who did and didn’t do which things. I’m only mentioning this because I think the viewer was entitled to a flashback. Thank me later.

Read my review of Fresh – a movie released earlier this year on Hulu, starring Daisy Edgar-Jones alongside Sebastian Stan here.

Read my review of Shadow in the Cloud, a 2020 movie featuring Taylor John Smith in a supporting role here.

Peer Ynt


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peerynt
peerynt

Translator, interpreter turned small time investor and crypto enthusiast during the Covid pandemic. Areas that interest me: visual arts, writing, history; everything you see in a good horror film.


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