'Where the Crawdads Sing' Ending Hopes To 'Inspire a Lot of Conversations'

Where the Crawdads Sing is out in theaters now and fans of the 2018 novel of the same name by Delia Owens have been patiently waiting to see their favorite book brought to the big screen.

However, of course, there will be plenty of theatergoers who will have not read the original book and therefore will be seriously surprised by the movie's huge twist, which takes place right at the very end.

Speaking to Newsweek, Where the Crawdads Sing director Olivia Newman shared she was excited for those who haven't read the book to discuss the jaw-dropping ending.

She said: "I'm excited for audiences that haven't read the book because they'll get to go into the movie, not knowing where Delia's story takes you, and get to have that sort of fresh experience of the story.

"I think that the book lovers will really appreciate being able to see this book that they love to come to life digitally but for those who haven't read the book, I'm excited for them to have that same first-time experience that I had when I read the book and had no idea where the story was going and was utterly surprised at the ending."

"It's a really hard story about, resilience and human strength and it's about what it takes to stand up for yourself. Hopefully, the ending is one that I think inspires a lot of conversations, and I think some of the best movies are the ones where you leave, and you need to talk about it and debate it and think about it and it's not an easy ending, and it's one that requires great thought and conversation."

Where The Crawdads Sing follows the story of Kya Clark (played by Daisy Edgar-Jones), an outsider living in the North Carolina marsh on her own after her family abandoned her to escape her abusive father.

As if her life was not challenging enough, Kya is accused of murder and is forced to stand trial in front of a community that judges her.

After meeting local boy Tate Walker (Taylor John Smith), who teaches her to read and write, Kya's life changes for the better and for a period of time, for the worse.

When Tate left the marsh behind and failed to return on the fourth of July to visit Kya as promised, Kya crossed paths with Chase Andrews (Harris Dickinson), a popular, wealthy boy from the nearby town.

Despite an intense period of dating and Chase's declaration of love and talk of marriage, it soon transpired he had a fiancée and Kya, quite rightly, wanted nothing to do with him.

Chase then began to harass Kya, refusing to leave her alone, trashing her home, and leaving her abusive messages. Things quickly turned violent one day on the marsh when he turned up uninvited and sexually assaulted Kya.

The last time we see Kya and Chase together is during the assault, but both did make it out alive.

However, things take a turn for the worse for Kya when she finds herself accused of murder when Chase's lifeless body is found at the bottom of the abandoned fire tower weeks later.

At the time, there was no concrete evidence linking Kya to the crime, other than a shell necklace belonging to Chase and that was made by Kya, was missing.

She pleaded not guilty and was acquitted by a jury. There was no evidence linking her to the crime and the prosecution successfully argued it would have been, quite frankly, impossible for Kya to return to the marsh to kill Chase and then back to Greenville to meet her publishers the following morning, without anybody noticing she was gone.

After years of struggle, she finally had her happy ending. She had been reunited with her younger brother, and her and Tate rekindled their romance, living a very happy and loving life.

At the end of Where the Crawdads Sing, there is a montage of what Tate and Kya's life looked like together, culminating in Kya's death on a boat on the marsh.

As an elderly Tate goes through Kya's belongings, he comes across Chase's missing shell necklace, hidden in a book of her poetry, suggesting Kya actually may have killed her former lover after all.

Chase was not a good guy and Kya obviously lived in fear of him returning to harm her, she knew abusive men's behavior as a result of her father, and why, when, or how exactly Kya killed Chase is not revealed.

Ultimately, it is left up to the viewer to decide.

Where the Crawdads Sing is in theatres now.