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A Reel Life film section
Issue: Winter 2022 (Jun-Aug)
Where the Crawdads Sing (2022) movie review
Isolation Breeds Contempt
For more recent reviews and first looks, see this month's column in Festivale. We also post news, reviews and trailers to Reel Life's Facebook page and trailers and clips on our YouTube Channel. Join in the discussion on Facebook
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Secrets are Buried Just Beneath the Surface
In the 1950s young girl is left alone to bring herself up in the North Carolina (U.S.A.) marshlands. Her abusive father, now dead, had driven away her mother and her siblings. Her first day of school is her last, but a friendship of like minds with a local boy brings her a love of the science behind her marsh home when he teaches her to read and write.
She learns to live without him when he leaves for college, and she accepts that she has always been 'the other', an outsider subject to rumour and ill-will. When the son of a locally important man is found dead in the marsh, she is arrested and put on trial.
Daisy Edgar-Jones as Kyra in WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING; Festivale film review (c) 2022 3000 Pictures
WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING built itself a home on the best sellers list, a first novel for author Delia Owens. Inevitably it became a movie, but making it in the face of so many expectations was quite daring.
Your humble reviewer has not read the book. Yes, it's usually a good idea to read the book first since the two are often so different, but not in this case. /P>
WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING is a well-put-together period piece. In many ways it is a stereotypic story. The outsider, shunned by the community, the unprotected girl seduced by a self-centred rich man, the first love that ends abruptly, and the trial, all taking place in a small town.
One thing I learned from Pa, these men must have the last punch.
Daisy Edgar-Jones and David Strathairn in WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING; Festivale film review (c) 3000 Pictures All Rights Reserved
That being said, this is a charming and undemanding tale that satisfies the audience. The stereotypes promise us that all will be well. The lone girl, now a woman, will find her niche, the caring lawyer will plead her case well, and despite all the weight of evidence and prejudice, we doubt that our heroine is truly in jeopardy.
There aren't a lot of layers to WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING. It's a simple tale, told well, and if that is what you are looking for, here it is -- an undemanding tale set in a beautiful place, enjoy.
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2022-10-10
Ali Kayn is a freelance photojournalist and the founding editor of Festivale Online Magazine. Festivale was founded in October, 1996 to provide mentorship to developing writers, an outlet for talented fans, and a test bed for software and hardware under review. She lives in Melbourne, Victoria with a garden full of birds.
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Due for Australian release 21 Jul, 2022 (2022-07-21) |
Just the facts:Title: Where the Crawdads Sing (2022) The Players: David Strathairn, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Taylor John Smith Official website: https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/wherethecrawdadssing IMDb entry For scheduled release dates, see the coming attractions section. For more information about this movie, check out the internet movie database. |
Published in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 
Filed: 01-Jul-2022