REVIEW: Where the Crawdads Sing May Have Been Better Left On the Shelf

Catherine “Kya” Clark (Daisy Edgar-Jones; Jojo Regina plays young Kya) grew up in the marshes of North Carolina. Abandoned by her family at an early age, Kya had to rely on her own resources to survive the marsh. With the help of her friend Tate Walker (Taylor John Smith), Kya learns to read and write and finds a passion for bringing the marsh to life through her drawings. As Kya grows up, she begins to fall for Tate, but like everyone else in her life, Tate ends up leaving her and the marsh behind. Kya, once again, tells herself she can only rely on herself until the dreamy Chase Andrews (Harris Dickinson) comes into her life. However, not everything is as it seems with Chase and when he lands up dead, Kya is charged for his death. Now, she must face a murder trial that has all signs pointing to her as the murderer.

Based on the debut book by Delia Owens, Where the Crawdads Sing is a story may have been better left on the shelf. Directed by Olivia Newman, the story is told in flashbacks as the trial is progressing. I am not a huge fan of film’s being told in flashbacks. The director and the screenwriters have to be able to not only balance both storylines simultaneously, but they have to be able to wrap up the flashback story and the current story without leaving anything out. Unfortunately, Newman and screenwriter, Lucy Alibar, are unable to do this. When all was said and done, the story felt incomplete. The story may have also felt incomplete because the creative team never fully fleshed out the characters. What is so nice about reading is a book is you are given the chance to read a character’s thoughts. What they are thinking during a certain situation or how they feel about a particular character. When you attempt to adapt a story to screen, you have to make sure you include just enough of those details in the book, so the audience understands what’s going on. This did not happen in this film. There were characters, who played significant roles in the book, which were pushed to the backburner in the film and character reactions that didn’t quite make sense.

Edgar-Jones plays the naïve, yet strong Kya but doesn’t quite encompass the character. Her southern accent is almost non-existent and there isn’t enough about the character to truly showcase the actresses range. . Edgar-Jones is joined in the film by Smith as Walker and Dickinson as Andrews, but it is Edgar-Jones’ film. There isn’t enough from either actor to really make a judgement on how they did. This may be because they are not in it a ton or because their characters aren’t exactly fleshed out. The same can be said for Sterling Macer Jr.’s Jumpin, Charlene “Michael” Hyatt as Mabel, and David Strathairn as Tom Milton. All three of the characters seemed to have played intricate parts in Kya’s life but no real time is ever spent on them. They are merely introduced to help propel her story rather than play a part in it.

If you read the book, I would suggest waiting until the film is available on streaming or On Demand to check it out. This isn’t a film I would run out to the theaters to see. For those who never read the book, I would suggest reading the book first and then deciding if you want to watch it. There are more details featured in the book and you will have a better idea of what is going on if you read the book instead of watching the movie.

Grade: C-