Where the Crawdads Sing promises to envelop audiences in a moving and engrossing story of American Deep South intrigue. Adapted from the bestselling book, the movie interweaves two different timelines around a story that encompasses love, death and awed reverence for the natural world.
The movie is released in Cineworld on 22 July, so here's everything you need to know.
What is the story of Where the Crawdads Sing?
Where the Crawdads Sing tells the story of the mysterious, isolated Kya aka 'the marsh girl.' Ever since being abandoned by her parents in the North Carolina marshes, Kya has learned to live in harmony with the beauty of her surroundings. Attempts to get her to integrate with her sneering, suspicious local community of Barkley Cove are largely unsuccessful, and Kya grows to adulthood entirely alone.
When she becomes a young woman, Kya finds herself caught between two different men, one rakish and arrogant, the other sensitive and compassionate. When one of them turns up dead, suspicion immediately falls upon Kya and she is arrested. Her life and residual character are then put on trial as the authorities try to get to the bottom of the crime, and ascertain whether Kya was herself involved.
Who wrote the novel Where the Crawdads Sing?
Where the Crawdads Sing is written by Delia Owens. It was her first book of non-fiction after many years spent as a biologist and conservationist in Africa. Owens' non-fiction accounts of her life spent in Africa, plus the observations of the local wildlife, have formed the basis of several memoirs and journals including Cry of the Kalahari, first published in 1984.
Unsurprisingly, given her love of nature and background, Owens invests Where the Crawdads Sing with a palpable sense of tactile atmosphere. She draws on local terminology, particularly in the titular use of 'crawdads', which is a North Carolina slang term for crayfish.
How successful was the book?
Where the Crawdads Sing has proved enormously successful, selling more than 12 million copies as of January 2022. That puts it among the bestselling books of all time and as of February 2022, it has spent 156 weeks on the bestseller list.
The book was championed by Oscar-winning A-lister Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line) who selected the book for her Hello Sunshine Book Club. Witherspoon announced the movie adaptation in December 2018 via her Instagram page.
Who stars in the movie adaptation?
Where the Crawdads Sing is poised to be a breakout movie for Daisy Edgar-Jones. She stunned in her role as Marianne in the BBC series Normal People, fully embodying the character first devised by author Sally Rooney. Edgar-Jones' chemistry with Paul Mescal, plus her subtle sketching of a young woman seeking her own identity and place in the world, was met with unanimous acclaim, and her affinity with emotionally isolated characters should stand her in good stead for the role of Kya.
The strong supporting cast includes Maleficent's Harris Dickinson as the charismatic yet duplicitous Chase Andrews, with whom Kya becomes involved. Relative newcomer Taylor John Smith (Hunter Killer) portrays the more sympathetic and caring Tate Walker who recognises Kya's close bond with the natural landscape, falling in love with her in the process.
Oscar nominee David Strathairn (Good Night and Good Luck; The Bourne Ultimatum) plays Kya's sympathetic lawyer Tom Milton and Garrett Dillahunt (No Country for Old Men) plays Kya's absentee father.
Who are the filmmakers involved?
Where the Crawdads Sing is directed by Olivia Newman, and written by Lucy Alibar. The latter scripted the acclaimed Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012), another movie with an authentic feel for America's Deep South, so it would appear that the Crawdads screenplay is in good hands.
Given that she's long championed the book, Reese Witherspoon is involved in a producer capacity. (The movie is being made through her Hello Sunshine production label.) Other notable crew members include cinematographer Polly Morgan, who lensed A Quiet Place: Part II, and Oscar-winning Life of Pi composer Mychael Danna. Crawdads clearly has a lot of pedigree on both sides of the camera, so we can surely expect an involving and atmospheric drama to ensue.
Check out the following behind the scenes clip in which Witherspoon and the rest of the cast and crew discuss bringing the story to the screen.
When is Where the Crawdads Sing released in Cineworld?
Where the Crawdads Sing is released in Cineworld on 22 July. Unlimited members: don't forget about your Unlimited screening of the movie on 19 July. Check out the trailer below.
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