Where the Crawdads Sing is a mystery movie light on the mystery. That might sound counterintuitive, and I’d be inclined to agree. Instead, it takes the mystery – in this case, a potential murder – and uses it to tell an incredibly compelling character study of the young woman at the center of it all, Daisy Edgar-Jones in an absolute powerhouse performance.
Kya Clark (Edgar-Jones) has been beaten down her entire life, figuratively and, in the case of her father, literally. The youngest child in her family, she sees each of her older siblings leave one by one, escaping the abuse. Eventually everyone leaves, leaving Kya, still just a child, to live on her own in the marsh of North Carolina. Against all odds, she carves out a life for herself. It’s nothing glamorous, but it’s hers.
Making it even more impressive is the fact that Kya did it all on her own. She had no other family and no friends or even acquaintances in town, save for Jumpin (Sterling Macer Jr.) and Mabel (Michael Hyatt), who run the local convenience shop and gas pump. They take pity on her and help her out when they can. Having only attended part of one day of school, Kya had no formal education, never even learning to read or write.
Years go by, and Kya has become known to the locals as “the Marsh girl.” If they’re being polite, they ignore her. The only one who bothers to give her the time of day is Tate Walker (Taylor John Smith). They knew each other growing up, and he was as close to a friend as she ever had. What begins with Tate teaching Kya to read and write turns into a full blown romance. They fall deeper and deeper in love, giving Kya hopes of having the family she never did.
It’s not all rainbows and sunshine, though, as Kya eventually finds herself left behind once again. This leads her to start a new relationship with local hotshot Chase Andrews (Harris Dickinson). When Chase is later found dead, having fallen from a fire tower, the police instantly make Kya their prime suspect in what they quickly assume is a murder rather than accident. Local retired lawyer Tom Milton (David Strathairn) decides to take Kya’s case.
And that’s where Where the Crawdads Sing begins. After a little bit more laying of groundwork, the story splits into two different timelines. We see Kya in present day as she and Tom work on her case and proceed to trial. The other shows 10 year old Kya and her life and formative moments, all leading up to her arrest.
Split timelines can be a tricky format to pull off. With the stories told here, at least, there’s no concern about confusing the audience. What you do have is the potential to weaken one or the other. Focusing on Kya’s childhood could detract from the mystery of Chase’s death. But the balance established is perfect. And that’s in large part due to the fact that Chase’s death isn’t the main story.
Yes, his death is the major inciting incident. But what Where the Crawdads Sing is actually about is Kya. It’s about her resilience, persevering through heartbreak and setback after setback, surviving through isolation and loneliness and rejection from those who are supposed to be her neighbors.
With a unique and interesting character and an A+ performance from Daisy Edgar-Jones, Where the Crawdads Sings succeeds as one of the more engaging solo-character driven stories in some time. The other actors are all good as well. But it has to make their job easier working off of someone like Edgar-Jones. Growing up in such extreme isolation, Kya didn’t have a lot of opportunities for real conversations. That makes her non-verbal actions critical to her character, which in turns makes them critical for Edgar-Jones’ acting to feel authentic.
And she absolutely nails it, every piece of it. You fully believe that this young woman has lived on her own for two decades. It might sound cliche and obvious to say the movie wouldn’t work without a strong lead performance. But there’s nothing – *nothing* – else if they missed with Kya. Every relationship portrayed is one on one with Kya. Every storyline centers on and flows through Kya. The Tate, Chase, and Tom characters are all fine on their own. But what makes you truly invested in them is watching their interactions with Kya, seeing how each of their respective relationships develops.
Where the Crawdads Sing is a good story on its own, compelling and well-constructed. But Daisy Edgar-Jones take the story, and her character, and elevates it to another level that not just any actress would be able to.
Score: 86/100
