Review/ Echo Valley (2025)
105 minutes of the pharmacy scene from Magnolia x the Oklahoma bathroom scene from Euphoria
Echo Valley is an original Apple TV+ dramatic thriller written by Brad Ingelsby, directed by Michael Pearce, and starring Julianne Moore and Sydney Sweeney. The supporting cast includes Fiona Shaw & Domhnall Gleeson (whose name I didn’t recognize but he’s actually been in a lot of films including Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Ex Machina).
The overall tone is dark and brooding, with many images of horses, misty fields, and a general feeling of solitude and isolation. With the strong cast, my expectations for the film were high despite it being direct-to-streaming. The story is surprisingly twisty; not everything is given away in the trailer. Unfortunately, there is a noticeable amount of overacting in the film, and a more subtle take on the characters may have preserved the moody atmosphere established by the rural setting and cinematography style.
Julianne Moore plays Kate, a riding instructor dealing with the recent death of her wife. She’s been struggling to get back on her feet, and her farm is suffering from the loss of income. Her daughter Claire, played by Sydney Sweeney, is dealing with addiction and has been in and out of rehab. Claire shows up at her mom’s house to visit after a fight with her boyfriend where she threw his belongings off a bridge. Claire and Kate enjoy some mother-daughter time until the boyfriend arrives, when it is revealed that the stash he was supposed to be selling was in the items thrown off the bridge, and they are in financial trouble with a dealer.
A day or two later, the dealer, played convincingly by Domhnall Gleeson, comes to the farm and attempts to beat down Claire for the money. Kate defends her daughter, and Claire and her boyfriend make plans to go camping for a few days to get out of town. This is where we see the real affects of drug abuse on Claire, as she threatens the family dog and assaults her mom in attempts to get money from Claire. These scenes are hard to watch, as it appears that Claire is a different person. She transitions from a sympathetic victim to a self-absorbed and violent participant in her own problems, asking the viewer to consider who we can empathize with and who we judge.
Claire and her boyfriend leave, but a few nights later, Claire shows up in the middle of the night, claiming that she killed her boyfriend. Kate loves her daughter dearly and decides to clean up the mess for her, including dumping the body in the lake. All of this is expected based on the trailer, but what comes after this really surprised me and made for a good thriller, plot-wise at least.
Echo Valley is set in rural Pennsylvania, near where I grew up, and the rolling fields, morning mist, and old barns are captured beautifully. The details of Kate’s life on the farm, such as getting out of bed and putting her bare feet on the wooden floor, the horses whickering and trotting in the green fields, and the dust rising on old gravel roads loving transport the viewer to this part of the world.
Domhnall Gleeson is absolutely terrifying as the antagonist. He embodies a narcissistic sociopath frighteningly well, giving a very physical, menacing performance. Fiona Shaw is lovely as Kate’s best friend Les. She’s comforting, level-headed, and supportive in a firm but kind way.
Unfortunately, Julianne Moore and Sydney Sweeney’s performances don’t really fit with the stillness of the rest of the movie. Their performances are chaotic and aggressive, and a more restrained approach would have made a stronger film. Additionally, the beautiful establishing shots can linger too long, padding this movie unnecessarily.
The film is upsetting in parts, with physical assaults, threats to animals, and the horror of the harm drug addiction can do to family relationships. I’d recommend this to fans of twisty thrillers, but with the reality of drug addiction in our world, it’s not a fun watch. There are plenty of dark yet somehow less depressing TV and film thrillers available for streaming right now, such as Dept. Q on Netflix, so you may as well watch one of those.
Let me know in comments what you thought of Echo Valley, or feel free to link your own review!