From the best-selling novel comes a captivating mystery. Where the Crawdads Sing tells the story of Kya, an abandoned girl who raised herself to adulthood in the dangerous marshlands of North Carolina. For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” haunted Barkley Cove, isolating the sharp and resilient Kya from her community. Drawn to two young men 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 lie within the marsh.
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Video Quality
Where The Crawdads Sing comes to Blu-Ray in a 1080p presentation in its original 2.39:1 that is quite fetching. One of the most enjoyable parts of this film is the prominence of nature and the personality of the marsh itself which the cinematography captures with warmth. The impeccable detail that is found within each environment and even the period production design is very impressive. The photography never falters when it comes to showcasing the depth of the image. Even shots at night are very crisp with fine detail. The film plays very well with warm earth tones on display from the greens of the foliage to the orange-beige cast of the Carolina sun overhead. The highlights are handled beautifully, along with the solid blacks that do not appear to suffer from any compression artifacts. There are no notable signs of any noise or other such digital nuisances. The skin tones look very detailed and natural all around. This film looks great on the format.
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray disc comes with a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that holds up just as well as the video side of things. The dialogue comes through clearly even with some strong accents without ever being overpowered by the environmental effects or the score. While it may have some tense moments, this is a pretty even-keeled film. The aforementioned tense moments give the track some texture such as the sounds of boat motors roaring or screen doors slamming. The score and the ending Taylor Swift Song are showcased wonderfully here with an enveloping use of the surround speakers. The sound design is precisely executed with all of the sounds given just the placement in the mix. The environmental effects create a vibrant soundscape of nature that feels like another character in the story. The low end of the track is more supportive rather than making itself the star of the show. While a full Dolby Atmos track could have been a treat for this one, this experience is not lacking in the slightest.
Special Features
- Adapting A Phenomenon: A ten-minute featurette in which producer Reese Witherspoon, author Delia Owens, and the cast and crew discuss the source material, its themes and the responsibility they felt to bring this story to life in the adaptation process. There are some interesting insights into the importance of the marsh, the complexity of the characters, the casting of Daisy Edgar-Jones and more.
- Creating The World: A six-minute piece in which many of the same subjects discuss the process of creating this world, the shooting locations, the quality they wanted to bring to the cinematography, Owens getting to see the set for the first time, the small details of the production design, how the house evolves with the story and more.
- Women In Focus: A six-minute look at the incredible team of women behind this film from the source material to the director and a majority of the crew. There is a distinct sense that the story was able to tap into a more sensitive and thoughtful place with so many of the voices driving this forward.
- Deleted Scenes: Fourteen unused scenes totaling 18 minutes are provided here including more scenes of Kya remembering her youth, Kya learning to use the boat, Kya’s barefoot journey to her first day of school and its aftermath, additional scenes with Tate and more. These moments mostly seem cut for time since it is already a pretty lengthy film, but there are moments worth seeking out for fans.
- Lyric Video – “Carolina” by Taylor Swift: The three-minute lyric video is provided here.
- Previews
Final Thoughts
Where The Crawdads Sing is the type of adult studio drama that rarely gets made these days, as these types of stories are generally stretched out into a limited series. While we love a great number of these, there is something to be said for the simplicity of capturing an intriguing narrative all within a two-hour timeframe without the need for monstrous special effects. This particular narrative is fairly predictable and lacking subtlety and nuance for much of the time, but it does its job of being a popcorn drama with a captivating lead performance from rising star Daisy Edgar-Jones. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray featuring a terrific A/V presentation and a brief array of special features. It could just be the lack of movies of this ilk making this one seem better than it is, but this was pretty entertaining for what it was trying to be. Recommended
Where The Crawdads Sing is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.