Echo Valley is a new thriller set to premiere on Apple TV+ this coming Friday. Directed by Michael Pearce, the film follows Kate Garrett (Julianne Moore), a woman who trains horses on her southern Pennsylvania farm as she copes with the personal tragedy of losing her beloved wife less than a year prior. Once her estranged daughter Claire (Sydney Sweeney), a troubled former drug addict, arrives at her door in the middle of the night covered in blood that isn’t hers, Kate has to decide what to do and how far she’s willing to go to protect her daughter. While well made, boasting strong performances from Moore, Sweeney, and Domhnall Gleeson, the film, for better or worse, delivers a mediocre thriller that fails to leave much of an impression on audiences once the credits roll.
Above all else, the biggest reason to give the film a chance is the three aforementioned performances from Moore, Sweeney, and Gleeson as its primary villain, Jackie Lawson. Moore leads the way as a woman dealing with unimaginable grief, while having to navigate through a complicated situation created by her daughter. Kate is a great protagonist, getting the most development and the one whose survival audiences will be rooting for the most. Despite what the film’s promotional material suggests, Sweeney’s role as Claire is limited. Designed to tests the patience of audiences, she does well with what she’s given, handling herself admirably. Gleeson is a standout in creating such an uncomfortable presence, and one that will get further under the skin of audiences as the film goes on. Besides the three leads, Fiona Shaw deserves a shoutout for her scene stealing role as Leslie Oliver, and Kyle MacLachlan shines it a short cameo as a character that the film would have benefitted from featuring more.
Decently compelling, Echo Valley features some good moments of tension, and an unexpected twist but at the same time, due to its half baked execution, the film feels overly familiar and dull at times. Exploring the unconditional love of a parent, and how far a parent is willing to go to protect their child, it tackles those themes in such a heavy handed way, stretching on implausibility. For the most part, this angle simply is not nearly as effective or impactful as it should have been. That being said, not helping matters is Claire, an unlikable character that is so selfish to the point that she will have many audiences rooting for her demise.
Following its twist, any chance for excitement or mystery from then on our is virtually nonexistent because of how predictable the film is, and how it sometimes finds itself at war with itself in trying to balance a mystery thriller with a grief drama. Typically the third act, where one would expect a film to ramp up as its intensity reaches a breaking point, but in the case of this film, it is even less exciting and the epitome of its flaws in a lot of ways. It simply lacks the kind of punch it desperately needed, making for an unsatisfying ending that doesn’t quite provides the sense of closure it should.
At the end of the day, while Echo Valley is not a bad film by any means, but for Apple TV+ subscribers, its appeal will primarily come from its lead actresses. Similarly, for those looking for a mystery thriller, this one should more than suffice. It is just a shame that considering the talent behind it on both sides of the camera, it wasn’t the home run it could have been, at least on paper.
Trailer
Score: 56/100
*still courtesy of Apple TV+*
If you liked this, please read our other reviews here and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Instagram or like us on Facebook.
Discover more from
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.