Where the Crawdads Sing
2022
**
Director: Olivia Newman
Cast: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Taylor John Smith, Harris Dickinson, Michael Hyatt, Sterling Macer, Jr., Jojo Regina, Garret Dillahunt, Ahna O'Reilly, David Strathairn
Even since her family members abandoned her, Kya has lived alone in the marshlands of North Carolina. In the late 1960s, she is a young woman who gets romantically involved with two different men. When one of them is found dead, the townsfolk immediately pin the blame on the Marsh Girl, because she is an unknown outcast. Delia Owens' bestselling 2018 novel was apparently as much a story about the marshlands as it was about the protagonist. Lucy Alibar's screenplay boils it all down to a cheesy YA romance, which is bookended by an irrelevant murder mystery. Kya may be an intriguing character on paper, but I didn't buy her screen version for one second, although Daisy Edgar-Jones gives a likeable performance. She is supposedly a semi-feral naturist who has taken care of herself since she was seven, but instead of being a Nell, she is the most ordinary person in the film. Her hair, skin, and teeth are perfect, her legs are shaved, and she always wears clean clothes. Has she actually suffered a moment of hardship during all the years alone? The men in her life are like chalk and cheese, but she loves them both. While the sensitive Tate teaches her to read and write, but refuses to sleep with her because he respects her too much, the selfish and manipulative Chase wants to have sex with her even if she doesn't.
