A girl abandoned by her family and society, left to live in a dangerous place all by herself, exploited by the people of the society and then the same society comes after her for an act she did not commit - this is the story of Where the Crawdads Sing, one of the best-selling novels of all time written by American author Delia Owens.
As 12 million copies of this book were recorded as sold by 2022, Sony Pictures adapted this novel into a mystery film. The audience gets to know Catherine Kya Clark, the protagonist who was the girl in the introduction mentioned before.
Kya used to live with her family in an uninhabited marshland near Barkley Cove, a fictional town of North Carolina. Her childhood is not the regular one. As her alcoholic abusive father abused everyone in the family, her mother and her siblings abandoned their homes one by one.
Soon, the abusive father leaves home too. Kya finds herself all alone in a family lodge, left to the dangers of the marsh. She struggles at first and tries to get into society. But the people see her as an unwanted and outcast from society.
Kya realises she has no place in civilisation and goes back to live with nature. She learns to live all by herself in the adverse marshlands, becoming an experienced survivalist. She learns to live without society, but society does not spare her.
Seventeen years after living in the wilderness, Kya finds herself in a love triangle. But she never finds true love, rather exploitation, as if society took revenge for her independent way of living.
Her struggle with society does not end here. She finds herself as a suspect in a murder she did not commit. Why does the same society who rejected her a long time ago, chase her? Why is she still suffering even though she did not choose to live in society?
Watching till the end of the movie may bring all the answers, considering a major plot twist in the end.
The film tried its best to follow the book where the storyline spans two connected timelines. Director Olivia Newman and producer Reese Witherspoon did proper justice to this popular novel with the adaptation.
Daisy Edgar-Jones wonderfully portrayed the character of mysterious Kya, she seemed perfect for this role. Moreover, the opening song of the film ‘Carolina’ was written and sung by Taylor Swift, who was a fan of the novel and decided to make her song give the film an eerie and haunting tone.
Nevertheless, Where the Crawdads Sing is a movie worth watching for mystery genre fans.
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