To start, I have not read the book (although I enjoyed the film so much, I plan to now), my review will be based on the film with no context of the source material.
I enjoyed this film tremendously. It was heartfelt and romantic...I will say that the storyteller may be slightly manipulative as they spent the whole film building your sympathy only to present a rather horrific reality.
The overall story is about a young girl, Kya Clark, who is raised by an abusive father in the marshlands of South Carolina and whose mother and siblings abandon her. Eventually her father abandons her as well and she is left to fend for herself in the marsh at a very young age. This solitary marsh existence brings rise to rumors amongst the local townspeople which works against her when a body is found in the marsh and she is accused of murder.
There is a beautiful love story built between Tate and Kya. Tate teachers Kya to read and supports her love of nature and nature drawings...but as all good things, he goes to college leaving her with a list of publishers who might be interested in her drawings. Heartbroken over Tate leaving her, she meets the duplicitous Chase.
Her family has abandoned her, the town reviles her...there is very little kindness in Kya's world. There seem to be only three people who are truly kind to her...Mabel and Jumpin' who run the local general store and buy mussels off of Kya and thankfully Tom Milton a local lawyer.
When Kya is accused of murder, Tom Milton does an amazing job defending her...especially considering she seems very reluctant to help herself.
There is a surprise ending as well as something fairly sinister beyond the obvious...that leave the movie goer with an interesting taste in their mouth. As a romantic, I loved the romantic storyline and was willing to put up with things like...not having to worry or think about birth-control?!?!? But the true ending left a cloud of sadness for me.
I highly recommend the film...it's a wonderful story and the moral crisis is my own. The marsh was a thing of beauty and the rendered nature sketches were gorgeous in this romanticized film. As mentioned, I enjoyed the story enough that I am going to be seeking out the book to read.
