This stank so much of a Nicholas Sparks-esque adaptation from the mid-00s that, frankly: yes. We need more studio adaptations of popular bestsellers; simplistic to a fault, but completely up to the task of conveying to someone, who had no interest in reading the book, that yes, the story mattered for people who took on the challenge. It’s a tradition we should bring back to the multiplex. 

Proficient filmmaking all around, beautiful marsh, by the way — even when CGI-ed. And indeed there’s something about the hardships this woman goes through that frankly lights people’s fuses for good reason. It’s an outlandish revelation, that final one — or at least outlandishly thrown at the wind for us to make peace with it —, but it underlines perfectly why this sun-drenched narrative, of falling in and out of love in a swamp that wasn’t made to be a home, moves passions, somehow. 

Daisy and Taylor John Smith have a very comfortable energy together; chemistry and sparks that could only fly that high on that specific setting — which is why it’s so enchanting to see. 

I’m now sure y’all had a good time with that book. Go in peace, folks. 

P.S.: Finally found out what crawdad is… and it’s lobster. I’m in shock. 

2022 Ranked