Where the Crawdads Sing

Kya Clark (Daisy Edgar-Jones) grew up in the swamps of North Carolina. Because of her alcoholic father, her mother abandons her as a child to try to rebuild her life. At her father’s side, increasingly enclosed within his dark and rancorous violence, the child grows up in contact with nature alone, rejected both by the adult world and by her peers when she tries in vain to attend the local school. Thanks to the friendship with Tate Walker (Taylor John Smith), a boy who goes to the swamps to fish, she gradually begins to learn to read and write. But when Tate leaves to attend university, breaking his promise to her, Kya realizes that she has been abandoned again. The arrival of Chase (Harris Dickinson), an arrogant and cocky boy who seems genuinely interested in Kya, seems to distract the girl from her terrible romantic disappointment. One day, however, Chase is found lifeless in the swamp. Kya is the first suspect and the hatred of public opinion builds against her. The only one who believes in her innocence is the lawyer Tom Milton (the excellent David Strathairn) who defends her for free. Based on Delia Owens’ bestseller (published in 2018), which dominated the charts of The New York Times Fiction Best Sellers for thirty-two weeks in a row, the film is the portrayal of a young woman who, despite growing up in a hostile environment, manages to assert herself and make her voice heard. The movie by Olivia Newman, built with a care worthy of classic Hollywood, like a Robert Mulligan film, it allows Daisy Edgar-Jones to showcase a complex register of emotions. Made on location, in environments rarely seen in the cinema with such effectiveness, it transcends from procedural drama to police investigation, without ever losing sight of the protagonist's formative narrative. A film that literally keeps you glued to the screen with the power of authentic emotions is the demonstration that even without special effects galore you can tell stories that can reach the hearts of viewers. Celebrated by The New York Times, with Where the Crawdads Sing Daisy Edgar-Jones proves to be one of the greatest promises of her generation and beyond. A performer destined to stay. Our ideal Leopard Club Award. 

Giona A. Nazzaro