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The film "Where the Crawdads Sing" was a surprise to me as I knew nothing about it before I saw it, I had not even seen a trailer for it.

The truth is, I like to know as little about a movie as possible before I see it. That way, it lets me discover the movie as the director intended it, rather than going in with preconceived notions.

That said, my feeling is: If you are reading this article, you do not want to go into this movie without knowing what to expect. I'll do the heavy lifting here and share with you what you will see as you make your decision as to whether or not you want to go or take your kids.

Violence

I have reviewed a lot of movies that contain violence, and I can tell you not all violence is created equal. Some of it is superhero movie explosions and over-the-top special effects; other types of violence are dark and carry a lot of extra weight. "Where the Crawdads Sing" gets into the darker type of violence that sits heavier than that created purely entertainment value.

Most of the violence in this film is depictions of domestic abuse. We see very early on an angry father beating his wife and children. Then throughout the film, we see more depictions of this in different relationships with the characters. There is a scene where we see one of the main characters beaten up and nearly sexually assaulted before the character manages to escape. While not graphic, the scene is a bit disturbing.

Language

There are swear words throughout the film, but none of them are beyond what is allowed in a PG-13 movie. But in this movie, the most disturbing language is not all about individual words but the messages the words convey.

Since the tone of this film is wrapped around the domestic violence that starts the movie and runs throughout, we hear verbal abuse and bullying as well. Unfortunately, this type of dialog is far more familiar to people than what we hear in a Marvel movie.

Sex

As I mentioned earlier, there is a scene where a young woman is nearly sexually assaulted. That scene does not show nudity or anything graphic. There are additional scenes in the film where we see characters passionately kissing, which leads to a romantic love scene. The movie does not show any nudity.

Disturbing content

This movie is a murder mystery wrapped in a love story, so it could be easy to overlook the fact that domestic and verbal abuse are the driving undercurrent in the film. The abuse is essential to understand the main character and her story.

All of this is worth pointing out because, unfortunately, so many people have real-world experience with abuse. I wouldn't want someone sensitive to this walking into a situation where they were blindsided.

For more details about the film's storyline, cast, etc., check out John Clyde's review posted Thursday on KSL.com.

Editor's note: "Where the Crawdads Sing" is officially rated PG-13 for sexual content and some violence including a sexual assault.