Where the Crawdads Sing Parent Guide

Growing up in the isolated marshes of North Carolina, Catherine “Kya” Clark (Jojo Regina, later Daisy Edgar-Jones) watches as her violent and alcoholic father (Garret Dillahunt) drives her mother, sisters, and brother away to seek better lives. Eventually, even her father leaves, and Kya is left to fend for herself. A resourceful, determined, and bright child, Kya finds ways to make ends meet without the benefit of schooling. But no matter how clever Kya is, trouble is coming. Former star quarterback Chase Andrews (Harris Dickinson) has been found dead out in the marsh, and suspicion quickly falls on Kya, known in the nearby town as “Marsh Girl” for her remote and independent lifestyle. Her only ally seems to be her attorney, Tom Milton (David Strathairn), as the rest of the town is quite content to convict her and send her off for execution. The trial will force the reclusive Kya into a spotlight, one which will bring her past, her relationships, and her reputation into question.

Easily the best part of this film is the beautiful natural marsh, shot mostly in Louisiana rather than North Carolina. I think this is one of the better ways to see them, as I suspect an in-person visit involves considerably more mosquitos, sunburns, and alligators. Since I’m not sure if I’ve had my malaria shots, I’ll settle for film. A close runner up are the performances from Daisy Edgar-Jones and David Strathairn, who both do their best to keep the film from bogging down – with very limited success.

While the premise is interesting, the film keeps sidelining its more interesting plots in favor of the romantic subplots. They are necessary for the story, but they also suck up a huge amount of the runtime, and it really kills any of the tension the movie manages to build elsewhere. That’s also where the film’s more challenging content crops up, with several sex scenes (none of which feature graphic nudity but all of which imply it) and a nasty sexual assault.

Ordinarily, I’d say Where the Crawdads Sing is pretty mediocre fare, succeeding neither as a thriller nor a romantic drama while trying to walk a tightrope between the two. Take it or leave it, and enjoy the cool swamp shots. Personally, though, I have some concerns about supporting the author of the novel on which the movie is based. Delia Owens is connected to the filmed murder of an alleged poacher in Zambia, and is in fact still wanted for questioning in that country. The allegations don’t stop there, though, and frankly, Jeffrey Goldberg’s article about her in The Atlantic makes for a far more interesting read than anything this movie has to offer. So before you commit to giving Ms Owens a percentage of your ticket price, take a little time and do some reading. I won’t spoil it for you but let’s just say that a documented homicide is just the tip of a very, very strange iceberg.