Based on its murky title and the image of a lovely young woman on the Blu-ray’s cover, I expected 2022’s Where the Crawdads Sing to offer a melodrama. And you know what? Despite some curveballs, that becomes mostly what I got.

Set in small town North Carolina circa autumn 1969, Kya Clark’s (Daisy Edgar-Jones) family abandoned her. In response, she raised herself in the local marshes, a fact that leaves her largely isolated from society.

When former star high school quarterback Chase Andrews (Harris Dickinson) winds up murdered, all eyes focus on oddball “Marsh Girl” Kya. Accused of a crime she didn’t commit, Kya needs to find a way to establish her innocence.

If nothing else, the unusual nature of Kya’s existence creates an intriguing plot twist. The story’s potentially tired “murder mystery” narrative gets a kick in the pants due to the qualities of its lead.

Does Sing manage to find anything else out of the ordinary? No, not really, as it uses its unusual scenario as little more than space for melodrama.

Pretty much as soon as Sing sets up the notion of the “Marsh Girl” accused of murder, it devolves into flashbacks. We get a look at Kya’s problematic childhood and what led her to her solitary life.

None of this material feels novel or fresh. We see a family stuck in a cycle of abuse and a neglected girl who finds herself on the fuzzy end of the lollipop.

The Southern setting doesn’t help. Virtually no US location winds up stuck with as many clichés as the South – especially when we go into the recent past, where the hazy mist of time renders topics even less creative.

Even without the trite characters and setting, Sing suffers from the long flashbacks just because it means we leave adult Kya for so long. Whatever shot Sing has to become a decent thriller goes down the toilet because we depart from the main plot for so much time.

Granted, we need some of this information, as the film needs to build its unusual character path. Nonetheless, the movie gives us way too much with young Kya, especially given the superficial nature of what we see.

The basic background doesn’t make much sense in terms of Kya’s character, mainly because she seems awfully clean, healthy and put-together for a kid/young woman who lives such an isolated life. Yeah, I can swallow Hollywood Glamour in many situations – like the perfect teeth/skin we find for folks in centuries past – but nonetheless, Kya just looks far too groomed and elegant for some isolated kid.

And she just seems oddly normal for someone in her circumstance. She never comes across as a person with the quirks and social flaws that would naturally accompany her lifestyle.

As our lead, Edgar-Jones looks lovely – again, too lovely for a character like this. She just shows such a flawless appearance that it becomes impossible to swallow her as some neglected waif.

Edgar-Jones brings precious little personality to Kya. Granted, the script leaves her little room to navigate, but nonetheless, Edgar-Jones creates a simplistic naif without much to make her interesting.

I could forgive some of these issues if Sing didn’t seem so darned boring the vast majority of the time. Despite the potential for a decent thriller, we get stuck with dull soap opera nonsense for far too much of the film’s running time.

None of these elements ever threaten to engage the viewer. As such, Sing ends up as a sluggish character exploration with little to grab one’s attention.

Where the Crawdads Sing appears in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The visuals held up well.

Sharpness looked appropriate. Delineation remained satisfying, so the image seemed accurate and concise, with only a bit of softness during occasional interiors.

No issues with jaggies or shimmering occurred, and I saw no edge haloes. Source flaws also remained absent.

In terms of colors, the movie opted for amber and teal, though it kept these subdued, so they didn’t go crazy. The low-key palette seemed satisfactory.

Blacks were pretty dark and tight, and low-light shots displayed reasonable clarity, though I thought they could be a smidgen murky at times. Overall, the visuals appeared positive.

I wouldn’t anticipate fireworks from the audio for a character piece like Sing, and its DTS-HD MA 5.1 track gave me the expected subdued affair. Music became the most prominent aspect of the soundfield, as the score used the five channels fairly well.

Effects had less to do. Ambience ruled the day, so not much more gave the track pop.

This seemed appropriate, though, as the flick didn’t come with obvious opportunities for sonic sizzle. Aspects of the marsh added some zing, but those didn’t seem especially memorable.

Audio quality appeared fine. Music was full and rich, while effects came across with appropriate accuracy, even if they lacked much punch due to a lack of ambition.

Speech came across as distinctive and concise. Nothing here excelled but the soundtrack fit the material.

As we move to extras, Adapting a Phenomenon runs nine minutes, 35 seconds. It boasts comments from producers Lauren Neustadter and Reese Witherspoon, novelist Delia Owens, 3000 Pictures president Elizabeth Gabler, director Olivia Newman, screenwriter Lucy Alibar, and actors Daisy Edgar-Jones, David Straithairn, Sterling Macer, Jr., Taylor John Smith, Michael Hyatt and Harris Dickinson.

“Phenomenon” looks at the novel’s move to the screen as well as casting and Newman’s work. Some insights emerge but a lot of the show feels fluffy.

Creating the World goes for six minutes, 10 seconds and involves Witherspoon, Newman, Edgar-Jones, Owens, Neustadter, Dickinson, Smith, Hyatt, director of photography Polly Morgan, production designer Sue Chan, art director Kirby Feagan, executive producers Betsy Danbury and Rhonda Fehr, location assistant Steven Charpentier, and actor Garret Dillahunt.

“World” examines sets and locations along with period details. Expect a mix of happy talk and good notes about the topics.

With Women In Focus, we get a five-minute, 46-second show that features Gabler, Owens, Edgar-Jones, Witherspoon, Neustadter, Newman, Hyatt, Alibar, Feagan and costume designer Mirren Gordon-Crozier.

“Focus” discusses the heavily female nature of the movie’s crew. It tends toward a lot of self-praise and little more.

14 Deleted Scenes occupy a total of 17 minutes, 57 seconds. Most of these concentrate on added character moments, with some emphasis on young Kya.

None of them add anything of particular value. Sing already runs too long – and seems too dull – so an extended version would feel even less engaging.

A Lyric Video for “Carolina” by Taylor Swift runs two minutes, 55 seconds. It shows sepia-tinted shots from the movie as the movie and lyrics run over the footage. The song seems dreary and the video bores.

The disc opens with ads for Little Women (2019), A Journal for Jordan, Father Stu and The Woman King. No trailer for Sing appears here.

Though it uses the backdrop of a thriller, Where the Crawdads Sing mostly delivers sappy melodrama. Despite some potentially intriguing twists, the movie feels trite and devoid of any drama or creativity. The Blu-ray boasts very good picture as well as appropriate audio and a mix of bonus materials. Expect a dull and tedious character piece.