SECRETS ARE BURIED JUST BENEATH THE SURFACE.

In 1968, a local quarterback (Harris Dickinson) is found dead at the bottom of a fire tower and a woman (Daisy Edgar-Jones) known as ”the Marsh Girl” is arrested on murder charges.

Beasts of the Southern Wild co-writer Lucy Alibar has done her best to bring authenticity to life in the North Carolina marshes. Cinematographer Polly Morgan adds beauty to Kya’s naturalist lifestyle, but perhaps the filmmakers go a little too far, making it hard to believe that locals would find ”the Marsh Girl” anything other than a pleasant young woman.

Still, Edgar-Jones is good and the murder mystery keeps it interesting.

2022-U.S. 125 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Olivia Newman. Screenplay: Lucy Alibar. Novel: Delia Owens. Cinematography: Polly Morgan. Song: ”Carolina” (Taylor Swift). Cast: Daisy Edgar-Jones (Catherine ”Kya” Clark), Taylor John Smith (Tate Walker), Harris Dickinson (Chase Andrews), Michael Hyatt, Sterling Macer Jr., Garrett Dillahunt, David Strathairn. 

Trivia: Co-produced by Reese Witherspoon.