Where the Crawdads Sing (125 mins) (PG-13) In cinemas now
Directed by Olivia Newman
Reviewed by Jen Shieff
A blue heron flies over the North Carolina wetlands, introducing the intriguing world of the marsh, its trees, undergrowth, birdlife, slow-moving rivers beautifully desolate shoreline and sea. It's a magnificent opening sequence, with clever CGI and drone work.
In the opening sequences, the body of Chase Andrews (Harris Dickinson) is discovered by two young boys and police are soon looking for clues, spotting and pursuing Kya Clark (Daisy Edgar-Jones), known locally as the Marsh Girl. She's a stereotypical outsider, regarded as something weird since, aged only 7, she began living life alone in a cabin in the marsh. In the opinion of police and the people of Barkley Cove, the Marsh Girl is an obvious murder suspect. Edgar-Jones delivers a convincing performance as the girl who dares to be different, the girl in the spotlight.
Flashback to half-wild Kya the teenager, befriended by local lad Tate Walker (Taylor John Smith) who tenderly coaxes her out from the bushes where she hides from the world. He brings her special feathers to add to the collection she painstakingly illustrates.
Tate knows about Kya's affinity with wildlife, her uncanny knowledge of the names, common and Latin, of birds and plants. They become lovers but Tate goes away to college and Kya, lonely and bereft, succumbs to the advances of privileged self-indulgent Chase Andrews. A love triangle results, and Chase's death seems to be the only way out of the bind the three of them are in.