‘The wild girl’: where the crustaceans sing

There was no doubt that the film adaptation of Delia Owens’ best-selling “Wild Girl” was about to turn heads. Having become one of the unexpected successes of the summer at the US box office and widely supported by the public, this version is now arriving in Spanish cinemas, which has the challenge of telling a passionate and elegant melodrama that ends up enveloping itself in an aura of mystery typical of cinema. of suspense. The result is certainly particular. It obviously shows Daisy Edgar-Jones’s potential as a lead on the big screen.

On the one hand, the film, directed by Olivia Newman, fascinates with its settings, which evoke a certain magical realismwith a fascinating forest and swamps, shot in the allusive New Orleans, which the film masks as the natural area of ​​North Carolina. Those beautiful landscapes also give the film that aura of intrigue that ends up completely enveloping the plot.which, in reality, is closer to romantic melodrama than thriller, despite having the challenge of combining both.

In both sexes, what is evident is that it is a story not only of female emancipation, but of the inner strength of a protagonist in which it is noted that the screenplay is entrusted to Lucy Alibar, co-author of ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’, for which she was nominated for an Oscar. That feeling of abandonment and how it is embraced to transform it into a strength makes more sense when it has as its protagonist a woman who, since she was a child, has had to face adversity alone, marked by social prejudices and ostracism by a people marked by archaic traditions.

It’s fascinating how, subtly, history shows how discriminated groups find a network of fraternal help, is seen in the way young Kya finds a family-like bond with the Madison couple, the only black citizens in a city that has a sense of segregation heritage. In that line, the film seems heir to those southern dramas of the 80s and 90s that were able to capture the rural essence to tell captivating stories, such as “Steel Magnolias”, “Fried Green Tomatoes” or “You Will Inherit the Earth”; even if he plays in another league, of course.

Evocative melodrama with shades of mysterious cinema

On that aspect, the film is right, thanks to a love plot in which a clear preference is given to desire and female protagonism. Of course, the vein of mystery that the proposal has gives the film an unexpected background. This is where Daisy Edgar-Jones plays a pivotal role. The British performer, recognized for series such as ‘Normal People’, ‘The War of the Worlds’ or the recent ‘By Mandate of Heaven’, delivers a sublime performance, one that is capable of elevating the feature film to the point to take it to a delightful big screen experience. With looks and gestures she manages to convey what the young Kya feels.

Edgar-Jones demonstrates wood for mysterious starring roles, one of those who attract more for what he is silent than for what he says. Additionally, she has the challenge of supporting a story on her own that combines two contrasting genres to classic romantic melodrama and thriller. Beside her, two correct Taylor John Smith and Harris Dickinson, who offer the two different faces of love.

Closer to the film adaptations of Nicholas Sparks than to titles like “Gone Girl” or the “Millennium” saga, ‘Wild Girl’ manages to be an elegant drama with a certain spirit of intrigue whose main virtue is the story of the personal freedom of a charming protagonist.

Note: 7

The best: The interpretation of Daisy Edgar-Jones.

Worse: He can’t find the balance between the bucolic and the inhospitable.