I'm in no way asserting that Michael Pearce's Echo Valley is a brilliant film.
It's not.
Echo Valley is, however, a good film elevated to immense watchability by the quality of Pearce's focused and patient directing, Brad Ingelsby's gifted storytelling, and an ensemble cast bringing their A-game to this retro-vibed thriller with amped up emotional intensity and enough suffocating thrills to keep you watching from beginning to end.
Set for its debut on Apple TV+ on June 13th, Echo Valley not only carries retro vibes but a decidedly old school performance from the always reliable Julianne Moore as Kate, a woman dealing with a personal tragedy while owning and training horses in the isolated and stunningly beautiful Echo Valley. While Kate is dealing with her own drama, it's clear she's also dealing with someone else's. Her daughter, Claire (played with a guttural intensity by Sydney Sweeney), has long struggled with addiction and shows up at her doorstep once again.
She's tattered. That's not new.
She's frightened. That's not particularly new.
She's trembling. That could be the drugs or it could be something else.
Oh, and yeah, she's covered in someone else's blood.
How far will a mother go to protect the daughter she's terrified of losing?
Pretty damn far.
Moore is seemingly incapable of a bad performance and her work in Echo Valley is no exception. While Echo Valley is the kind of film that would likely die quickly at your neighborhood multiplex, it's ideally suited to a major streamer and should no doubt find a wide audience. Moore weaves a tapestry of uncommon strength and painful vulnerability as Kate, a loving mother smothered by life and grieving her own spouse's recent deatth. Similarly Sweeney is smoldering as Claire, a young woman with abundant charm who knows how to use it no matter how intense and raging her behaviors become.
Echo Valley may very well be stolen by Domhnall Gleeson's scary as fuck Jackie, a charismatic dealer whose mastery of manipulation seemingly puts everyone in danger. On the softer side, Fiona Shaw shines as one of Kate's BFFs, Leslie.
Echo Valley is both familiar and unique in all the right ways thanks to Emmy winner Brad Ingelsby's natural, intuitive storytelling. Benjamin Kracun's lensing for the film is impressive in its uncomfortable intimacy and ability to set us down in the midst of beauty gone awry. Jed Kurzel's original score similarly lends the film a terrific companion to its emotional rhythms.
Echo Valley isn't a perfect film, however, it's a compelling, thrilling film that should easily capture the attention of streaming audiences with a great ensemble cast and characters difficult to forget. There are those thrillers destined to stick around in your psyche' for quite some time. Echo Valley is that kind of thriller.
Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic
