Where the Crawdads Sing Movie Review

“Where the Crawdads Sing” is based off a very popular novel read in many local book clubs. In fact, one of the early promoters of the book was Reese Witherspoon, who is now one of this movie’s producers. The story seems perfect for a friendly book-club environment, with the strong yet troubled young female character.

Kya Clark finds herself growing up in the marshlands of North Carolina. At first, she appears to be raising herself in the marshland wilds, outside the nearest town. Her limited social contacts make her subject to ridicule and abuse. Even to the point where she is charged with the murder of a local young man.

Near Barkley Cove, N.C. there is a dysfunctional family on the edge of the marsh/swamp. They are also on the edge of family disintegration. The youngest child of five is named Catherine “Kya” Clark (played Jojo Regina as a child — and later by Daisy Edgar-Jones). This family does not hold together.

After years of abuse, Ma Clark (played by Ahna O’Reilly) first leaves. Then Kya’s older siblings leave. That leaves her there only with Pa Clark (played by Garret Dillahunt). But even his patience is thin, and his temper is too hot. He leaves, and there is only the young Kya, left there on her own. Kya (somehow) grows up and lives by herself.

She really knows the marshlands, and goes every morning to find mussels. She can trade them for the small things she needs. There is a tiny mom-and-pop store run by a loving and accepting Black couple. Local store owner Jumpin (played by Sterling Macer, Jr.) and his wife (played by Michael Hyatt) know the difficulties that Kya faces.

They become her only friends. One time, she goes into town to find the school. They can teach her things, she will be able to live on her own. Plus they will have a hot lunch. Kya gets directions from a local lawyer named Tom Milton (played by David Strathairn).

With her shoeless feet and ‘swamp stink’, all the kids — and many of the adults — mock and make fun of her. Kya does not stay at school even for one day. She rarely goes into the small town after that. Only Tom Milton is ever nice to the young girl. As Kya gets a little older, she still stays a recluse, and she rarely ventures too far outside of her beloved marshlands.

She knows all the facts about every creature and each object in nature. Her skills in sketching become much better over the years. One day, she meets a young man in a clearing. Tate Walker (played by Taylor John Smith) is just about the same age as Kya. He offers to help her learn to read and write. He is always thoughtful and perfect gentleman.

His father works as a shrimp fisherman, so Tate wants to attend college and make something better of himself. Kya and Tate become very close, and he suggests that she try to get her sketches and art published. She thinks it could be a silly idea, but she eventually works in that direction. Tate gets a letter that says he is going to college. He promises to come back when he can and he will write often. He says he will meet her on the shoreline on July 4th to watch the fireworks.

Kya is ready for the fireworks with Tate. But the only ones she gets are the explosions of grief in her heart when he does not come to see her.  He does not show up, and there is never any follow up to say why. Kya is recovering from her broken heart. Yet one more person in her life has left her. But then she meets a local guy from the town. Chase Andrews (played by Harris Dickinson) is a handsome and popular prior high-school sport star. He has a high opinion of quite a number of ‘local’ things (but a high opinion of himself, mostly). Kya and Chase begin to date, and Chase is a little too aggressive sometimes.

Kya finally gets results of her efforts to get published. Chase has not told Kya everything about his life. She finds out that he was also seeing a girl who turns out to be his fiancé. Chase tracks Kya down near the shoreline. He assaults Kya, yet she fights him off. She is now at risk. She finds out she will be meeting with her publisher who is out-of-town. After that evening, Chase Andrews is found dead at the bottom of fire tower. Even though Kya was gone and in a different town that night, she gets charged with his ‘murder’. Her only friend in town is the lawyer Tom Milton.

Tom Milton is ready to come to the defense of the young, introverted woman. Kya is ready to face a jury of her peers. Yet, she has no ‘peers’ in this town. Everyone there has always thought of Kya as the “Marsh Girl”. She is someone who has always been an outsider, a loner, a recluse and a total mystery.  Nobody in the town knows anything about her.

Yet here they are ready to pass judgment on her way of life, and if she might have any more life left to live. Milton is a wonderful old-time lawyer, and he does not befuddle the jury with theories and conjecture. He simply asks if there just might be a different possibility to what the Prosecutor says happened. After all, nobody was there when it happened, and there are no witnesses.

“Where the Crawdads Sing” is a smartly-made movie, given that is based on a popular book. The strong female character really stands out. Daisy Edgar-Jones does an outstanding job playing Kya Clark. Also, David Strathairn as the silver-haired local lawyer Tom Milton is great. He will bring to mind Atticus Finch from “To Kill a Mockingbird”. The other supporting characters are fine. The photography of the landscapes and marshscapes are drenched in sunlit beauty.

One flaw in the movie is the portrayals of all the male characters. They are with one of two extremes. On one side, there are men such as Tate Walker, Tom Milton, and the store owner Jumpin. They are always kind and supportive to Kya – a ‘Perfect Gentleman’. But then on the flip side, there are men like her Pa, and Chase Andrews. They are mean spiteful and abusive – a ’Raging A$$hole’. There are no other types of men in Kya’s life.

“Where the Crawdads Sing” is the story of how a reclusive girl, who is “from the wrong side of the swamp”, learns to free herself from the small-minded yokels that make up the town.