When I saw that Reece Witherspoon’s production company (Hello Sunshine) was behind this film, I knew it was something that I wanted to see. Witherspoon’s name carries great weight to quality storytelling on film and television following the successes of Wild, Gone Girl, and Big Little Lies. She also champions an area that I am very passionate about, female-driven stories.

Set in the late 1950s / early 1960s, Where the Crawdads Sing follows the story of Kya. A young girl from a poor family, who grows up in the marshlands of North Carolina on her own, after being left abandoned by her family. As she grows up, she becomes known as “The Marsh Girl” by the local community.

It’s based on the best-seller novel by Delia Owens, which I hadn’t read prior to seeing the film. The woman sitting next to me in the cinema did tell me that she thought it was a good adaptation.

The film starts off with the discovery of a body in the marsh and uses the technique of flashbacks to delve deeper into how Kya finds herself on trial for murder of the body found. We spend a lot of time looking back before being brought back into the present for short bursts, giving clues to the audience along the way.

It’s through the flashbacks that the film also tackles several confronting themes including domestic abuse, assault, and rape.

While there are some red herrings included (as any murder mystery does) I don’t feel that they were explored far enough to be a legitimate option although it does provide reasonable doubt. If you pay attention, there are clues along the way that hint how the ending will play out. I had the ending worked out around halfway through.

This didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the conclusion, it’s still quite a remarkable and satisfying end. I like trying to work out the riddle and am delighted when I am correct (who isn’t I guess).

However perhaps for this reason, I did feel like the ending dragged out much longer than it needed to. It was almost agony waiting for the reveal. At one point I thought that it wasn’t going to happen, which would have been disappointing as confirmation is a must for this story! The audience deserves it.

Even though most of the story takes place while Kya is on trial, the film leans more into the mystery component than a courtroom drama. This is because a lot of the onscreen time takes place in the flashbacks. I did enjoy the courtroom scenes and would have liked to see a little more of the film in this setting. Kya’s lawyer Tom Milton also gave off some Atticus Finch vibes, down to the white suit.

I found the cinematography very crisp and showed the beauty of the southeast of America. It’s a very clean looking film and it’s that juxtaposition against the topics that are addressed that demonstrates while things may look pretty on the surface, there can be ugliness hidden underneath. Many of the characters are judged based on their appearance but their actions speak volumes as to who they really are.

If I had to take my pick, I’d probably go with Gone Girl over Where the Crawdads Sing. While an unfair comparison as they are based on novels by different authors, that’s just where my personal preference lies.

Where the Crawdads Sing is an enjoyable film that I’d recommend. Probably not one that you need to see at the cinema though.