“Where the Crawdads Sing”, Review!

Director: Olivia Newman
Starring: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Taylor John Smith, Harris Dickinson

Daisy Edgar-Jones is implausible in a murder mystery devoid of believable characters. With a premise involving murder and romantic jealousy in the swamps of North Carolina, you'd least expect "Where the Crowds Sing" to deliver anything sweaty, even if it comes across as a complete intellectual bullshit. Built against the backdrop of a deeply flawed central acting finish, there's nothing remotely reassuring or exciting about this flat, hokey whodunit.

At the center of trouble in "Where the Crowds Sing" is Daisy Edgar-Jones, who stars as "Marsh Girl" Kya Clarke. Adapted from the novel by Delia Owens, Gaya is accused of murdering her secret lover, Chase Andrews (Harris Dickinson), who is found dead in a swamp. On paper, it's a plot that Edgar-Jones could sell, but everything around it makes him the wrong choice.

We assume that Kaya has survived the swamps and swamps of the '60s Deep South since she was a child, but nothing about Edgar-Jones is believable. Her clean-cut beauty contrasts with a character that really needs some rough edges to bring to life, and Edgar-Jones doesn't look like she's staying in a chic Soho hotel. She has come from somewhere else.

From the set of Kya's childhood, which is supposed to be tragic, but ends up being funny in his terrible absurdity, to Kya's central trial, where he faces the contempt of the townspeople, it's very disturbing. To make details. Thin lawyers. David Strahern, as Kya's benevolent lawyer, initially graces the proceedings in his presence, but is given nothing interesting and fades into a story with no real suspense or tension. Never realizing any real danger, Newman and writer Lucy Aliber make the prosecution's case so shoddy that a guilty verdict is nearly impossible.

We see Kya and Chase's relationship in flashbacks, but these seem like a waste of time pretty quickly. There's no spark between the actors and Newman keeps everything incredibly clean except for one brutal attack scene, which is truly horrifying and completely unacknowledged by the rest of the film. The direction and writing are completely shoddy, with poor performances, poor lighting, and bad editing choices, all of which add up to one of the most embarrassing movie endings I've ever seen.