In 2018, the best-selling book “Where the Crawdads Sing” was released and sold over 15 million copies. Since then lovers of the book have waited fours years for the movie to come out, and they were finally able to see the movie when it was released in theaters July 15, 2022, and on Netflix November 12, 2022. And the wait was well worth it. 

Just like in the book, Catherine Danielle Clark (known as Marsh Girl or Kya) is the main character of the movie. Kya lives in the marsh far away from town. Her family used to live with her until her dad became abusive and one by one members of her family started leaving. British actress Daisy Edgar plays Kya and did a really good job at portraying the shy and quiet girl that Kya is. Kya also wears clothes that normally have mud on them, so I think that the clothing really fits her character because she lives in a marsh.

As a teenager, Kya becomes friends with a boy named Tate. Tate is an intelligent and outgoing boy who teaches Kya how to read and write, and eventually they find common interests amongst each other. Tate and Kya fall in love, and soon enough Kya isn’t alone in the marsh anymore. Unexpectedly, Tate leaves. Kya is mad at him and soon enough forgets about him. Most viewers might think that this is one of the most sad parts of the movie because Kya’s best friend and lover just left her.

As Kya is sitting along the beach years later, she meets a man named Chase Andrews. Chase lives in town, so he has a whole life that Kya doesn’t really know about. Chase and Kya become good friends and eventually fall in love. I think Chase and Kya would be a good match, but Chase isn’t exactly the most loyal and kind boy. He constantly talks about Kya referring to her as the Marsh Girl, and he is literally engaged to another girl while dating Kya. 

This whole time as everything is going on, Kya is also writing a book. Kya’s writing gets recognized by publishers, and she gets an offer to meet some authors for a reader’s conference. The conference is in a city a few hours away, so Kya would have to stay the night in a hotel.

Before the conference, Kya finds out about Chase’s engagement because she hears about it from someone else. I think that it’s good that Kya found out Chase was engaged because if not she could have gotten hurt. Now by this point of the movie, Tate has come back to Kya and something happens between them. Tate then comes back a second time and tells Kya about how Chase isn’t a good person. Tate is right, and hopefully if Kya hears that from an old friend of hers she will believe it.

The movie takes a plot twist while Kya is away at the conference. Something happens to Chase, which leads Kya to be in a whole lot of trouble. This was so unexpected by most viewers. I think that this big plot twist is what made the movie so good. If you want to find out what happens to Chase and Kya, however,  you will have to watch the movie or read the book.

In the end, I think the actors did a wonderful job on portraying their characters, and I could really feel what the characters were feeling by the actors’ facial expressions and the way they played it out. I think that the setting was well thought of because otherwise the movie and book wouldn’t have drawn our attention. The best part of the movie was the fact that you never knew what was going to happen next. 

So if you are looking for a movie to watch, I highly recommend watching “Where the Crawdads Sing.” It is filled with mystery and lots of drama.