Is Netflix's Newest Romantic Drama Worth Watching?

I broke the cardinal rule of movie watching.

Don’t read the book before you see the movie.

The book is always 100 times better than the film, and you will be disappointed. (Except in the case of The Notebook, IMHO.)

Thus was my dilemma with Where The Crawdads Sing.

A few months ago, I read the book on a whim, and it was SO amazing. I couldn’t put it down.

I really, really wanted to love the film.

Bottom line — I did not.

Now, I’m not sure if I didn’t like the movie because it was subpar, or if I didn’t like it because there was so much more to the book than they could have ever captured with the film.

What Is Where The Crawdads Sing About?

Young Kya is abandoned by her family one by one, eventually being left to live in the marshlands of North Carolina all alone.

She learns to survive in the dangerous marshlands she calls home, all while being shunned as the “Marsh Girl” by the people of the town.

Kya meets and falls in love with a boy named Tate, who takes her under his wing, teaching her to read and write.

When Tate ends up abandoning her, just like every other person she ever loved, Kya finds a friend — and eventual lover — in Chase, the star quarterback of the town.

Kya ends up getting her heart trampled on, once again, when she learns that Chase is actually engaged to another.

Trouble comes knocking on Kya’s door when Chase is found dead in the marsh that she calls home.

Of course, she is immediately cast as the main suspect by the town that has shunned her.

As the lawyers present the case for each side, it becomes increasingly unclear where the town’s allegiance lies.

Will they convict the Marsh Girl, whom they have gossiped and shunned for years?

Or, will they decide the case based on the facts surrounding the murder.

I’m not going to tell you how it ends. That is for you to watch and find out.

I will say, the one saving grace in the movie, for me, was the gorgeous cinematography. I live in North Carolina, and they did such a good job of capturing the absolute breathtaking beauty of the state.