I'll just never get over the fact that Delia Owens--a first-time novelist who may or may not have been directly involved in the murder of an African poacher many moons ago--wrote a story about a self-sufficient girl living in the marshlands of North Carolina potentially getting away with murder herself. Write what you know, they said!!!

As it is, Daisy Edgar-Jones carries this whole thing on her back and is rewarded by having two interchangeable hunks like Harris Dickinson and Taylor John Smith to gaze upon, while the lush marsh buzzes around us. It does feel like I'm the target audience: not just having read the source material, but having been raised in the South as well. The movie gets the sense of place absolutely right and that kept me interested even while the movie bobs along just like Kya's little boat.