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07th May 2024

Is the Where The Crawdads Sing movie better than the book?

Stephen Porzio

Where The Crawdads Sing holds a 96% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes

Where the Crawdads Sing, the 2022 murder mystery movie that was a big box office hit, has just been added to Netflix.

Based on the also hit novel of the same name by Delia Owens, the film tells the story of Kya (Normal People’s Daisy Edgar-Jones), an abandoned girl who raised herself to adulthood in the dangerous marshlands of North Carolina.

“For years, rumours of the ‘Marsh Girl’ haunted Barkley Cove, isolating the sharp and resilient Kya from her community,” the synopsis reads.

“Drawn to two young men (Harris Dickinson and Taylor John Smith) from town, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world; but when one of them is found dead, she is immediately cast by the community as the main suspect.

“As the case unfolds, the verdict as to what actually happened becomes increasingly unclear, threatening to reveal the many secrets that lay within the marsh.”

Also featuring amongst its cast David Strathairn (Delores Claiborne) Garret Dillahunt (Ambulance) and Michael Hyatt (The Wire), Where the Crawdads Sing received mixed reviews from critics but was much more favourably received by audiences.

Not only does it hold a very impressive audience score of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.2 IMDB score, but it grossed nearly $150 million on a reported $24 million budget.

But does it live up to the book’s hype?

Fans were pretty impressed by the screen adaptation, but nothing will ever compare to the book by Delia Owens. It has intricate details, gripping moments, and a twist that the film fails to capture just as well.

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