Kids find a corpse in the middle of a marsh, which we are told are different from swamps. Police arrive and don't really find much evidence of wrong-doing but quickly arrest "marsh girl" - a young woman who lives by herself in the middle of the marsh and who was the dead guy's lover at some point. A kind lawyer (lol) offers help. Marsh girl at first doesn't say a word, but eventually opens up and tells us her story.
She was one of several siblings who grew up in the same house she now inhabits, in a violent household ruled by the drunk and brutal father. She befriends a kid but her father convinces her to stay away from people because they are all bad. Eventually, the mother left somehow leaving all the kids there. Then her siblings left without her as well. She stayed and figured out how to live with her dad by mostly staying out of his way. Then suddenly the father leaves...leaving the little girl all by herself !?! She manages to make it somehow by collecting mussels and selling them to the only store nearby, all this by driving a boat by herself. The store owners take a liking to her, but not enough to adopt her, look for relatives, or turning her over to authorities. So that's how she somehow grows up. The store owners convince her one day to go to school in the town nearby because there she will be at least fed once a day. She goes one day but is ridiculed by all the kids who somehow happen to be rich so she never returns. Social services at times try looking for her but she evades them every time.
Back in the present, the trial starts. Of course the prosecution doesn't have much of a case, but since she's the "outsider" everyone is hostile to her and she makes the perfect villain. In between the trial, the story of her growing-up continues. As a teen, she again meets the kid who befriended her as a child. They both have an interest in feathers. They are perfect for each other. But the kid goes off to college. He promises to return for the 4th of July and meet her at the beach to watch the fireworks. Of course he doesn't show up and breaks her heart. So she focuses all her attention on drawing the animals and plants of the region.
One day, years later, some rich kids are one the same beach as she, and one guy befriends her. They become lovers and their relationship becomes very serious, even though he doesn't think all that much of her and her hobby. But who comes back to town? Her ex of course, who picks a fight with her new love. One day she's in town and runs into her man...and meets his fiancee. So her heart is broken again. So the ex thinks he has a chance again. But she of course doesn't want to see him but eventually agrees and they become a couple again.
The trial continues and her lawyer carefully dismantles every piece of the prosecutor's evidence. At some point she had sent some of her drawings to a publisher which to her surprise agreed to publish her work. In time she becomes a renowned author expert on the flora and fauna of the North Carolina marshes. One key piece of evidence is a necklace which she had made for her guy/victim. But that necklace was missing from the corpse.
The verdict comes in. But instead of ending the movie there, it goes on fast forwarding years as she lives in the house with her guy and gains more fame with her books. There's a surprise near the end as she advances in age.
Where the Crawdads Sing isn't really my genre of movie, nor have I read the book. I like the setting and the girl. As preposterous as it is, the story is still pretty good. Not a fan of movies that frame the story within a trial, it rarely works. And here too you get to a point where you want to see more trial and less long and slow motion flashbacks. I was surprised by how much the story of heartbreak affected me as well as her memories of her mom. There is also a powerful scene of her brother one day returning years later as an adult army guy. So overall this is an attractive and likeable movie, that's a bit too long.
She was one of several siblings who grew up in the same house she now inhabits, in a violent household ruled by the drunk and brutal father. She befriends a kid but her father convinces her to stay away from people because they are all bad. Eventually, the mother left somehow leaving all the kids there. Then her siblings left without her as well. She stayed and figured out how to live with her dad by mostly staying out of his way. Then suddenly the father leaves...leaving the little girl all by herself !?! She manages to make it somehow by collecting mussels and selling them to the only store nearby, all this by driving a boat by herself. The store owners take a liking to her, but not enough to adopt her, look for relatives, or turning her over to authorities. So that's how she somehow grows up. The store owners convince her one day to go to school in the town nearby because there she will be at least fed once a day. She goes one day but is ridiculed by all the kids who somehow happen to be rich so she never returns. Social services at times try looking for her but she evades them every time.
Back in the present, the trial starts. Of course the prosecution doesn't have much of a case, but since she's the "outsider" everyone is hostile to her and she makes the perfect villain. In between the trial, the story of her growing-up continues. As a teen, she again meets the kid who befriended her as a child. They both have an interest in feathers. They are perfect for each other. But the kid goes off to college. He promises to return for the 4th of July and meet her at the beach to watch the fireworks. Of course he doesn't show up and breaks her heart. So she focuses all her attention on drawing the animals and plants of the region.
One day, years later, some rich kids are one the same beach as she, and one guy befriends her. They become lovers and their relationship becomes very serious, even though he doesn't think all that much of her and her hobby. But who comes back to town? Her ex of course, who picks a fight with her new love. One day she's in town and runs into her man...and meets his fiancee. So her heart is broken again. So the ex thinks he has a chance again. But she of course doesn't want to see him but eventually agrees and they become a couple again.
The trial continues and her lawyer carefully dismantles every piece of the prosecutor's evidence. At some point she had sent some of her drawings to a publisher which to her surprise agreed to publish her work. In time she becomes a renowned author expert on the flora and fauna of the North Carolina marshes. One key piece of evidence is a necklace which she had made for her guy/victim. But that necklace was missing from the corpse.
The verdict comes in. But instead of ending the movie there, it goes on fast forwarding years as she lives in the house with her guy and gains more fame with her books. There's a surprise near the end as she advances in age.
Where the Crawdads Sing isn't really my genre of movie, nor have I read the book. I like the setting and the girl. As preposterous as it is, the story is still pretty good. Not a fan of movies that frame the story within a trial, it rarely works. And here too you get to a point where you want to see more trial and less long and slow motion flashbacks. I was surprised by how much the story of heartbreak affected me as well as her memories of her mom. There is also a powerful scene of her brother one day returning years later as an adult army guy. So overall this is an attractive and likeable movie, that's a bit too long.