New must-see mystery thriller movie brings best-selling book to life

Guaranteed to put you on the edge of your seat, Where the Crawdads Sing is a captivating mystery that will have you pondering long after the credits have rolled.

Set against the conflicting 1960s values of the USA’s turbulent deep South, get ready for a suspense-filled journey whodunit hunt. Even if you’re not a regular movie-goer, this one will appeal with its elements of mystery and small townsfolk with evocative Southern inflections, diverse and hauntingly beautiful landscapes, and a twisting plot.

For years, rumours of the “Marsh Girl” floated around town with locals depicting Kya Clark as a barefoot and wild “creature” that is unfit for polite society. But the truth is she is not what they say. Abandoned as a young child and outcast from town, Kya grows up fiercely resilient and alone in the treacherous marshlands of North Carolina that she calls home. She learns life lessons from the land and the animals that inhibit it with her.

Even though she has the survival skills to live alone forever, there comes a time when she yearns for more and wants to be accepted and loved – but that’s when the unthinkable happens.

Where the Crawdads Sing is based on Delia Owens’ book of the same name, which topped the New York Times Fiction Best Sellers lists both in 2019 and 2020.

The highly anticipated movie adaptation has fans of the book eagerly awaiting its premiere in July. Since the release of the trailer, many viewers agreed that the authenticity of the marsh and casting choice was the spitting image of what they had imagined when they first read the book.

Isolated from the world

The story is set in Barkley Cove, a fictional coastal fishing town where everyone seems to have fixed ideas about their station in life.

You’ll love the slow southern drawl accents, taking you back to America in the 1950s and 60s. It’s a time in history when the divisions between rich and poor were deep, and your skin colour defined you.

Cloaked in light and shadow, the rich visual world of the marsh where creatures big and small make their home comes to life as the movie unfolds.

If you were drawn into author Owens’ vivid words as she described the marsh in her book, you will most certainly appreciate the visually stunning masterpiece in the movie that brings the scenery to life.

Prime suspect

Just when you think Kya’s life is coming together, the unimaginable happens, making you question everything you know about her.

As she opens herself to a new and unfamiliar world, she becomes the prime suspect of a mysterious death that has the whole town on edge. The investigators, affected by their prejudice, struggle to find their way towards the truth, but this is one death that will not go unrevenged.

Who murdered the town’s favourite son?

Beautiful and wild, the marsh hides many secrets, including clues which may help reveal the truth about who murdered the town’s popular young hotshot quarterback.

Step by step, one clue after the other, the movie weaves the tapestry of Kya’s life and the mysterious death. There’s a promise of intrigue with more than a dash of suspense and anticipation as the two parts of the plot dance around each other and slowly come together.

Did Kya do it? Did this quiet, awkwardly beautiful woman seek revenge against society that has shunned her? There are hints along the way, and you’ll probably have your suspicions, but you’ll have to wait to the very end of this movie to find the answers.

Where the Crawdads Sing opens in Australian cinemas on Thursday, 21 July 2022.