Give it up for Where the Crawdads Sing, which can now claim the title of the worst film ending of 2022. No, the year isn’t over yet. But there’s no way anything can top the soul-crushing, cheap, and completely implausible final sequence in the adaptation of Delia Owens' novel.
The novel’s final act is bad—involving a final kicker to the mystery that makes no sense—but the film adaptation takes that poor payoff and multiplies it by a thousand. No, there aren’t any new twists: The ending, plot-wise, is the same as the book. Why, then, is it so terrible? If you’ve seen the movie, one glance at Daisy Edgar-Jones’ old age makeup and you’ll understand why I’m so upset.
In the overly long movie’s last 10 minutes, our protagonist Kya (Edgar-Jones) ages out of her 20s and into old age. She’s spent the young years of her life fighting to survive, struggling against everything from an abusive father to a murder trial; alas, now, she’s happily settled down with the love of her life. (There’s a love triangle, but we won’t reveal who ends up on top.) Kya ages throughout the epilogue, scene by scene, wrinkle-atop-wrinkle settling into the 24-year-old actress’ spotless face. The agony!
I’ll save you from further specifics—though if you’ve followed any of Owens’ current murder crisis in Zambia, you might already know where the story lands—because I’d rather talk about how this movie continues to wrong the Normal People actress, even after sticking her with a dull role.
There aren’t any photos of Daisy Edgar-Jones in her garish old-lady makeup online yet; at least, none that I can find. If there were, I’d imagine they’d earn a comparison to that viral image of Austin Butler sweating his brains out as elder, caked in grease Elvis.
The film knows how bad Daisy Edgar-Jones looks, too. I had to squint to get a glimpse of Kya in her 40s (bad), 50s (worse), and 60s (worst)—the film cuts between far-away shots of her during these periods quickly. If the crew knew it wasn’t looking great on film, perhaps this would’ve been the perfect time to figure something else out.
I can’t describe what I saw in great detail, but I can give a slight taste of what I think I saw: Lines of wrinkles penciled on with reckless abandon. Greasy foundation poured all over the actress’ pores. Slight sagging added in the cheeks. What I saw didn’t look like a human; rather, what a baby with tiny hands might draw when asked to create a portrait of their grandmother.
Her ghastly appearance is Winona Ryder in Edward Scissorhands-levels of terrible. Citizen Kane started the trend of bad (or, back in the day, “cutting edge”) old-age makeup; Orson Welles did his own self dirty by making Charles Foster Kane look so sweaty and ancient by the end of that film. Where the Crawdads Sing pays homage to the 70-plus-year tradition by asking “What if we caked hundreds of layers of fleshy foundation onto one of the most beautiful actresses of our time?” Orson and Winona will have to take Daisy to a therapy group session now that the movie’s out, joining in with all the other actors who have been massacred by fake wrinkles.
Winona Ryder should reach out to Daisy for comfort, considering how bad her old-age makeup in Edward Scissorhands was.
20th Century FoxYes, Where the Crawdads Sing does eventually recast Kya with an older woman, but the film did not need to put Daisy Edgar-Jones through the wringer before doing so. This woman is a contemporary Audrey Hepburn (between this and Fresh, though, her roles don’t follow suit) in looks. I’ll credit the movie with giving her great gowns, beautiful gowns … but that’s it.
Why must Daisy Edgar-Jones wear old age makeup? The film employs a child actress to play the younger version (Jojo Regina) of herself for most of the film, and for the last two minutes, we get to see an older actress (Leslie France) in the role. Could the $24 million budget not cover one more actress for a three minute scene?
I always love to see an aging woman on screen, but Where the Crawdads Sing fumbles the bag again and again. Leslie France portrays Kya in a way that feels perfectly in-tune with Regina and Edgar-Jones’ performances. That being said, masking a young, beautiful actress in old age makeup feels somewhat disrespectful to older actresses who could’ve snagged the part of Kya at those respective older ages.
The final moments of Where the Crawdads Sing are nightmarishly horrendous, makeup or no. The last beat of the film makes no sense. But the real cherry on top here is that the movie finds a way to completely disfigure its lead with an uncanny version of her face, stripping every last facet of reality of the story. Daisy Edgar-Jones, you gave it your all. Next time, demand a “No Old-Age Makeup” clause in your contract.
