Based on the 2018 novel of the same name by Delia Owens, Where the Crawdads Sing (2022) tells the story of Catherine “Kya” Clark, an abandoned young woman who has been living in the marsh ever since each member of her poor family left one after the other due to her abusive father; leaving her behind as a 7-year-old who has to fend for herself. Now famously known as the ‘Marsh Girl,’ the young woman is accused of murder when a body is found near her secluded home in the marshland of North Carolina.
Directed by Olivia Newman and starring Daisy Edgar-Jones as Kya, Where the Crawdads Sing is a traditional melodrama with elements of mystery, murder, and romance. Telling the tale of a lonesome girl who has built a personality on her own and has learned the ways of the wild all by herself, Where the Crawdads Sing, unevenly marries the elements of a courtroom drama with a dramatic story about self-resilience.
If you happen to like Where the Crawdads Sing, or Daisy Edgar-Jones dedicated performance, here are 8 movies that you might wanna check out too:
1. Carrie (1976)
Widely popular for being the first of the many Stephen King movie adaptions, in addition to featuring one of the most memorable prom scenes filmed in cinema history, Brian De Palma’s ‘Carrie’ is not the kind of movie you’d expect to see right off the bat on this list. Firstly, compared to Where the Crawdads Sing, this is not a melodrama but a horror movie. Secondly, the coming of age in the movie takes a totally different trajectory, and thirdly, Where the Crawdads Sings doesn’t indulge in the supernatural.
And yet, the similarities are eerie. Both movies deal with children who their parents discard, and in spite of being really good, they are often let down by those around them. Like Where the Crawdads Sing, Carrie is also a story about a girl left to fend for herself and forced to grow up in a constantly volatile environment.
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2. Snow Falling on Cedars (1999)
Snow Falling on Cedars, the 1999 legal drama directed by Scott Hicks, is also adapted from a book of the same name. The plot here revolves around the murder of Kabuo Miyamoto, a Japanese American who is accused of killing a White fisherman. Seen through the eyes of Ishmael Chambers (Ethan Hawke), a war-veteran who fought in the Pacific War, the story tackles Ishmael’s internal struggles while also leading us into a mix where he is unable to completely think that Kabuo’s wife, Hatsue is the culprit or is innocent because he is slowly falling in love with her.
Much like Where the Crawdads Sing, Snow Falling on Cedars is about a seemingly innocent woman who has nothing to do with the workings of the town and is accused of murder. Another important connection between the two movies has to be their inclination toward the themes of prejudice and how people fail to look beyond their preconceived notions. It’s a double whammy that both the movies involve murder and a legal trial that will definitely intrigue the audiences.
3. Kill Your Darlings (2013)
Now, John Krokidas’ Kill Your Darlings is mostly biographical, in which it charts the extremely notorious chapter in the lives of some of the most famous literary geniuses associated with the Beat Generation. However, much like Where the Crawdads Sing, this highly fictionized version of the story of Allen Ginsberg (Daniel Radcliffe) and his association with Lucien Carr (Dane DeHaan), has the key elements of murder, mystery, and intrigue.
It also helps that both movies find written words as not just a point of catharsis for these young fellows but also as a way to free their minds of the darkness that stays near the bay. The two movies also explore the toxicity of predatory men and how they often exploit those in a place of lesser power.
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4. Marrowbone (2017)
Another diversion on this list is the 2017 horror movie, Marrowbone, starring the now well-known Anya Taylor-Joy. The similarities in the two movies are, again, too easy to let go of. Both of them are about abused children, where the mothers abandon them, and the abuse from the father is completely diverted toward them. Marrowbone is about the Marrowbone siblings and how they hide a dark secret from everyone else, including Allie (Any Taylor-Joy), who finds love in the eldest sibling.
Much like Daisy Edgar-Jones’ turn as Kya Clark, Allie and the Marrowbone siblings are relentlessly abused, and in spite of accusations diverted towards them, the stories somehow manage to make us root for them.
5. American Fable (2016)
Similar to Where the Crawdads Sing, American Fable is a movie that takes place off the mainland. The marsh in the Crawdads is replaced here by farmlands, and the coming of age in Fable involves fantasy elements that also somehow deal with the capitalists coming right at the ones who are living in their own peace and quiet.
The similarities in the tonality end there, but both movies are about the aching beauty of our protagonists’ landscape and the isolation they feel, for there is no one around. The two also feature overbearing fathers who impose their things on the child until the child doesn’t know what the world outside their little place actually entails. American Fable is a story that follows 11-year-old Gitty, who, after filling her loneliness with a world of make-believe, is met by a very real conundrum that she has to tackle, and for what’s it worth, Kya Clark’s dilemma is much of the same.
6. Rebecca (2020)
Adapted from Daphne du Maurier’s classic 1938 Novel by the same name, Rebecca is a story that has seen numerous iterations, most notably the great Alfred Hitchcock, but Ben Wheatley’s 2020 version feels like a great counterpart for Where the Crawdads Sing. Following a young, newlywed woman who moves into her husband’s esteemed estate, only to be haunted by the legacy of his ex-wife, Rebecca is a story that swoons itself with mystery and murder.
Lily James, who plays Mrs. de Winter, feels like a character cut out of the same cloth as Kya Clark, and while both the movies are different in their settings and tones, the romance and plot twists are somehow in sync with each other.
7. The Woman in the Window (2021)
Based on the gripping, best-selling novel of the same name and adapted to the screen by Tracy Letts, Joe Wright’s The Woman in the Window is about Anna Fox (Amy Adams), a woman suffering from agoraphobia, who gets greatly obsessed by the picture perfect family living across her. The former child psychologist doesn’t have much to do, so keeping tabs becomes such a great hobby that when she witnesses a brutal crime, her agoraphobia is forced to get the better of her.
Featuring an ensemble cast of A-listers, including Gary Oldman, Anthony Mackie, Brian Tyree Henry, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Julianne Moore, The Woman in the Window is similar to Where the Crawdads Sing because it is also about an isolated woman who has been away for civilization for so long, that believing and not believing her becomes one of the central conflicts of the movie.
8. The Unforgivable (2021)
Next up on the list is the Sandra Bullock starer, The Unforgivable. The Netflix Original movie is based on the 2009 British miniseries Unforgiven and tells the tale of Ruth Slater, a woman recently released from prison after serving a sentence of 20 years. Having been committed for murder, Ruth finds it difficult to fit into society after her release because of the inhibition and prejudice that people have against her, and so she decides to look for her younger sister Katie as a last resort for living a life.
Much like Where the Crawdads Sing, The Unforgivable is one of the movies where the character finds it extremely difficult to connect with people. They are not just treated as outcasts but are also burdened with unwanted judgment from the naysayers. Both films feature commendable performances from the leads, and there is also a slight connection to estranged siblings in both stories.
