Where the Crawdads Sing

Where the Crawdads Sing, the big-screen adaptation of Delia Owens’ 2018 novel, wants to slip back into an era where Nicholas Sparks reigned supreme and women rushed to the theatre to sob into tissues as they watched love conquer all obstacles. In the case of this film, the lovers we are destined to root for are Kya (Edgar-Jones) and the sweet boy who taught her to read, Tate Walker (Smith). It’s a saccharine relationship, built around the helplessness of a young woman and the stability of a kind young man, a classic pairing that’s a bit dated in the 2020s.

The film’s central issue is a love triangle that lacks all the smoldering ingredients to create tension and yearning. The minute the second love interest, Chase Andrews (Dickinson), struts on screen, you can tell he’s a villain – his slicked-back hair, clean-cut look, and shiny speedboat all feed into his Proud Boy energy. Chase even uses Kya’s demeaning town nickname as a term of endearment, calling her “Marsh Girl” like it’s a sweet epithet. His horrid nature certainly makes it easy for the audience to side with Kya during the trial of his death, but leaves one puzzled as to why she ever got involved with this man to begin with.

Where the Crawdads Sing falls prey to many period piece tropes, particularly “Black parental figures play savior to a young white girl.” It’s not a knock on Michael Hyatt’s and Sterling Macer Jr.’s performances as kindly store owners Jumpin and Mabel, both of which serve the movie fine enough, but the cliche is clunky. In addition, discussions surrounding sex in the film are comical, like when Tate refuses to sleep with Kya because it wouldn’t be right to potentially leave her with a baby before he heads off to college. What was meant to be responsible and genuine only serves as a reminder that abortion is once again illegal in many states in the South.

The only redeeming quality about Where the Crawdads Sing is Edgar-Jones. Her performance here is akin to her breakout role as Marianne in the miniseries Normal People – there’s a sweetness within her eyes that’s magnetic. It’s so easy to watch Edgar-Jones fall in love on screen that it helps propel the movie a little bit, even when the men she’s falling in love with are cardboard cutouts (neither of these men have the same intense sensitivity of Paul Mescal as Marianne’s love interest, Connell). Edgar-Jones’ easygoing allure isn’t enough to bind Where the Crawdads Sing together, though, leaving the film a generic, dull outing.