Echo Valley
Kate Garretson (Julianne Moore) is in a bad place. Her wife Patty (Kristina Valada-Viars) was recently killed in a horse riding accident and she can barely keep up their farm, Kate too depressed to resume giving riding lessons. When she learns her barn needs a new roof, she has to go crawling to her wealthy ex Richard (Kyle MacLachlan) for the $9K to replace it and they will once again argue about her inability to say no to their junkie daughter
Claire's (Sydney Sweeney) constant demands for financial assistance. And when Claire shows up at her mom's again, she'll bring more than her usual problems to "Echo Valley."
Laura's Review: B-
This is one of those frustrating films that boasts a fine ensemble and filmmaking craft yet is let down by a narrative that defies believability. It squeaks by on its assets, particularly Domhnall Gleeson's wily, seductive villain. And while writer Brad Ingelsby ("The Way Back") has painted his protagonist as too much of an unquestioning pushover, he's given the film a couple of third act twists that butter the popcorn.
Moore effectively and economically gets us into Kate's headspace as she listens repeatedly to Patty's old voicemails and struggles to get up every morning. When Claire shows up at her mom's she's out of control, demanding cash from a woman who has bankrupt herself trying to save this daughter. When Kate puts her foot down, Claire storms off with her equally reprehensible boyfriend Ryan (Edmund Donovan), only to reappear later proudly announcing that she's dumped him, as well as dumping his belongings over a bridge. A brief respite of calm behavior follows, Claire helping with farm chores and going for a swim with mom, a sequence that allows us to see what Kate sees in Claire.
This temporary reprieve is blown apart when Kate sees her daughter being held down on the lawn in front of her house. Driven by material fury, she pushes Jackie Lawson (Domhnall Gleeson) away, allowing Claire to escape, but when she threatens to call the cops, Jackie informs her that her daughter has taken something of his that has put him in a difficult position as Ryan, the guy who turned her in, meekly objects, saying 'she didn't know.' Apparently there was half a kilo of drugs in that bag of Ryan's Claire dumped into a river and now Jackie's demanding $10K. As if that isn't bad enough, Claire goes off the deep end again, even threatening to harm Kate's dog Cooper (who, interestingly enough, only barks when Claire arrives, something Kate notes with affection instead of the red flag it actually is). Kate will catch another break when a dear old friend, Les (Fiona Shaw), drops by and stays the night, lifting her spirits, but Claire will show up begging for help once again, this time with a dead body in the back of her car.
And this is where the film really goes off the rails, Kate springing to action with no regard for some very obvious indications that things may not be what they seem. Nonetheless, director Michael Pearce ("Beast") piles on atmosphere with rainy, windswept nights and lonely, dark roads, adding cinematic flourishes here and there, like framing Kate in slo-mo while everything around her appears to move in real time, a disorienting device. The final act finds the return of Jackie, now making some really horrific demands and Kate seems powerless to stop him, given what he knows.
Despite her character's losing and regaining her wits at the plot's discretion, Julianne Moore is a fine enough actress to maintain our rooting interest, even if some of her character's actions inspire slaps to the forehead. This is a woman who loves deeply - her wife, her daughter, her friends, her dog and her horses - and that love is a great burden. Sydney Sweeney has been deglamorized, her skin pasty and pimply, her hair straggly, and the actress commits to the self involved bad behavior of an addict. Shaw adds a lot of heart as the very best kind of friend and she and Moore share years of in jokes and intimacy. But it's seeing Domhnall Gleeson, the good guy of "Harry Potter" movies and romantic foil to Rachel McAdams and Andrea Riseborough, as the quietly menacing, silkily manipulative Jackie, that gives this film its willies.
Robin's Review: C
Kate (Julianne Moore) recently lost her partner, Patty (Kristina Valada-Viars), and her small horse ranch is struggling to survive. Then, her long estranged daughter, Claire (Sydney Sweeny), all strung out and in trouble, shows up on her doorstep in “Echo Valley.”
Unconditional motherly love is the theme in director Michael Pearce’s third feature outing and it stretches the credulity of that love in a way that requires true suspension of disbelief.
When Claire shows up, it is obviously a continuation of a very turbulent mother/ daughter past. She proves her ne’er-do-well self right off the bat when she demands that Kate buy her a new phone. We, painfully, learn of the young woman’s long history of bad behavior and her latest visit just brings Kate more trouble.
It turns out, she took something owned by her drug dealer, Jackie (Domhnall Gleeson), and claims she dumped it. What she took was a lot of drugs and Jackie wants his money back. Guess who jumps up to fix everything for Claire…as usual?
The story, by Brad Ingelsby, is a kitchen sink full of increasingly dangerous occurrences that steadily propel Kate in a downward spiral that threatens her very life. The problem I have is Kate never reaches a breaking point with her wayward daughter. I understand “unrequited love” and saw it in my own mom but even John Dillinger’s mother must have given up after a while.
I keep hearing about the great acting in “Echo Valley” and it is good, but nothing that sets it above. Julianne Moore could read the phone book and get a watch, Here, though, I just wanted to give her a good shake to bring her to her senses. That never happens as we watch Kate’s inevitable crash. Still, she stands behind her daughter, even in the end, and I do not believe it.
Apple TV+ releases "Echo Valley" in select theaters and on its streaming platform on 6/13/25.
