The North Carolina marsh. Seagulls. The mysterious 1960’s. Murder. All factors that heavily contribute to the global phenomenon that is “Where the Crawdads Sing”. On July 15, 2022, this movie adaptation hit theaters after the novel had been out for almost four years. As far as book-to-movie adaptations go, this one ranks pretty high in terms of accuracy and overall quality. The movie did a wonderful job of encapsulating very specific images portrayed in the book, such as the marsh or the shack, in a way that made perfect sense and was a perfect match with the images I had created in my mind.

Nature plays a big part in this movie, so seeing it captured in such a satisfying way that emphasizes its importance to the characters while forwarding the plotline felt seamless and very well executed. The surrounding marsh and beaches felt infinite in size, furthering the solitude and loneliness experienced by the main character, Kya. Her overall internal battle with feelings of vulnerability and defensiveness was wonderfully portrayed, and Daisy Edgar-Jones did a beautiful job of expressing such a complex character with as many layers and suppressed feelings as Kya has.

In addition to all of that, there are also beautiful elements that explore romance much differently than your average cookie-cutter love plotlines. They are not only tied in beautifully, but done so in a way that doesn’t detract from the original plot, but actually adds to it.

In general, everything throughout this movie was done with specific attention to detail , and it shows. It matches the book almost exactly, and is an overall entertaining movie to watch.