September 6, 2022
Popular rich boy Chase Andrews (Harris Dickinson), was found dead at the foot of a tall view tower in the forest outside Barkley Cove, North Carolina. Gossip around town laid the blame on a poor reclusive young woman who lived on the marsh, Catherine Danielle "Kya" Clark (Daisy Edgar-Jones), derisively called "Marsh Girl," who was then arrested for his murder. Local lawyer Tom Milton (David Strathairn), volunteered his services to defend Kya.
Kya had to fend for herself since she was seven, when she was abandoned by all the other members of her family. Fortunately, a friendly African-American couple Jumpin and Mabel Madison (Sterling Macer Jr. and Michael Hyatt) helped her along the way. When she grew up to be a teenager, she was befriended by Tate Walker (Taylor John Smith), who taught her to read, encouraged her nature drawings, and introduced to the joy of young love.
Upon the framework of a murder case, the story of Kya Clark's difficult life was told. The strength of the movie lay in the two actresses who played Kya in two earlier stages of her life. Kya as a precocious seven year old was played by 11-year old Jojo Regina in her impressive feature film debut. The child Kya went through a miserable childhood, marred by abuse, abandonment, and bullying, and Regina gave a fierce portrayal of this.
Kya as an adult was played by the ethereally beautiful Daisy Edgar-Jones, best known for the 2020 Irish miniseries "Normal People." Edgar-Jones looked so fresh and fashionable, it sometimes did not make sense why the townspeople mocked her so. Edgar-Jones imbued young adult Kya with a sense of pride and dignity despite her traumatic experiences. Her voice-over narrations were delivered with a soothing calm that fit Della Owens's poetic words.
The two men Kya was involved with were both not without flaws. Harris Dickinson's Chase Andrews was a rascal of the first degree, someone who haunted Kya even after his death. Taylor John Smith's Tate Walker was a gentleman, a friend who patiently taught Kya how to read, to write and to love. However, when Tate was faced with a crossroads in life with a tough decision to make, he would also hurt Kya deeply.
Oscar-nominated character actor David Strathairn (for George Clooney's "Good Night and Good Luck" in 2005) played the elderly lawyer Tom Milton, who steadfastly defended Kya in the face of the prejudice against her. His calm demeanor and kind empathy for Kya's plight can bring back memories of Gregory Peck's beloved character Atticus Finch defending a black man falsely accused of rape in "To Kill a Mockingbird" (1962).
The director is Olivia Newman, only on her sophomore project. The writer is Lucy Alibar (Oscar nominee for adapted screenplay for "Beasts of the Southern Wild"), based on the best-selling 2018 novel by Della Owens (which I had not read yet, but I now want to). Reese Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter produced it under their Hello Sunshine Media. Taylor Swift wrote and sang the original theme song "Carolina." With its heady romantic tone, the feminine sensibilities of the film were quite palpable. 7/10.
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