“Where the Crawdads Sing” is an American murder mystery/coming of age story written by author Delia Owens. The book is set in Barkley Cove, North Carolina in the 1960s and follows a young girl named Kya Clark who is living on her own after being abandoned by her whole family, including her alcoholic and abusive father. The book follows two timelines: one of Kya on trial, accused of the murder of Barkley Cove’s golden boy, Chase Andrews, and the other following Kya growing up. The movie arrived in theaters on Jul. 15, 2022, and was one of the most anticipated movies of the summer. Kya Clark was played by Daisy Edgar-Jones, a British actress making her way up the Hollywood chain. This movie received $17 million on its box office debut and features the original song Carolina by Taylor Swift.
This film was met with mixed reviews, with some greatly enjoying the film and others calling it a waste of time. However critics don’t make the movie, the public does. With some viewers reading the book, others not, there are mixed opinions on whether or not the film achieved its goal in visually portraying the Marsh Girl’s story.
“It did a good job telling the story, but I don’t know if it was anything exceptional. I think this was a fair rendition of the book, but I don’t think that they did anything special with it,” English teacher Mrs. Gillon said, who watched the movie after having read the book, and was satisfied with the book’s adaptation. “I enjoyed the movie, I thought they did a good job casting. The main character was described as this very exotic, very pretty girl but not in a blatant way, and I think they did a good job casting with that. Overall I enjoyed it; I thought it was a good rendition of the book.”
However, a common complaint with book-to-film adaptations is that the narrative is too dissimilar from the original text. While some aspects remain the same, others were vastly different.,
“The imagery, recreating her love of the marsh, and the raw nature of it. I liked the way the supporting characters were portrayed. They showed a clear representation of what their characters were like in the book.”
However, sophomore Amanda Gillion, (also having read the book and watched the movie) had a less favorable perspective.
“I strongly dislike the story, but I do love the cinematography,” Gillion said. “The book was very slow and did not interest me. The imagery was great, but the author could have added less of it and continued the story. I liked the movie more because I felt like it had better pacing. It really helped me picture everything much better.” But even with differing opinions Gillon agreed that the basis of casting, the actors, and its recognition.
“I feel like a lot of the actors stayed true to their characters and they told the story well. The movie deserves a lot of recognition because it is relatively entertaining and it has a song by Taylor Swift in the end credits,” Gillion said.
In the end, “Where the Crawdads Sing” is an award winning story and a highly recommended movie. With romance, murder and a beautiful setting it is the classic Hollywood movie set up. But the thoughts after the movie are something to ponder about. Positive or negative, “Where the Crawdads Sing” is certainly a movie to watch for yourself.
“The cinematography portrayed the story very well. All the sets were made well, and every shot really helped show the story,” Gillion said.