Echo Valley

Daughter is irremediably awful, overacted by Sydney Sweeney (even though she's a great actor I just didn't get into this role at all). The first half is just a torture show of bad daughter activities.

Movie picks up a bit in the last 2/3 but overall I just found the acting and characters flat and not really good enough to hold the screen. I get the point of the movie about grief and unconditional love bla bla bla, it just really didn't work for me.

The ending was pretty solid overall and this is an okay movie to kill a few hours, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Overall ok in every way but that's it. Solid 5/10. The end.

One of the greatest actresses in the world, really digging into her part as the mother of a wayward daughter. You believe her in the first half as she tries to cover up evidence and a body. Then things go sideways and a little dopey. The second half could've used a serious rewrite. Just didn't buy it. No spoilers. I'm giving this a 7 because Julianne Moore gives a world class performance and you believe it. Sydney Sweeney is also great as the junkie daughter. The very last scene was so predictable that it made me cringe. But overall it's a good watch because of the two leads. Gleeson is also believable as the dealer. Second half could've used a rewrite.

If ever a film made you want to scream in frustration, this would be it. From the constant betrayals of trust, to people getting away with horrendous crimes, to the overly-forgiving mom... it will drive you INSANE! That said, the acting was excellent across the board. Julianne Moore is convincing as the mother who will do anything for her child, even if her role is identical to what she's done in her last 50 films. Sydney Sweeney, while perhaps slightly exaggerated at times, delivers a strong performance as an addict, with very realistic addict behaviours. The standout for me was Domhnall Gleeson, who truly shone as the conniving, self-centred drug dealer. I'm so used to seeing him in more passive, underdog roles, so this was a great chance for him to show a different side.

That being said, the story and plot were absolutely maddening. I cannot accept the way Moore's character Kate treats Claire (Sweeney), and vice versa. It felt far too unrealistic. A mother's love is unconditional, yes, but there is a difference between unconditional and overindulgent. At some point, long before the events in the film, Kate should have realised that her constant "help" was doing far more harm than good. I hate when films normalise this dynamic between parents and children and villainise the voice of reason. I fully understand the parental instinct to protect your children at all costs, but when your actions only drag them deeper into their self-destruction, who are you really protecting?

Greetings again from the darkness. We should all be so fortunate to have a friend as loyal as Leslie, and we should strive to be wiser than Kate so that we don't ever have the need to test that friend's loyalty. Director Michael Pearce (ENCOUNTER, 2021) is working with a script from screenwriter Brad Ingelsby (the excellent "Mare of Easttown", OUT OF THE FURNACE, 2018), and a superb cast to deliver a thriller that offers both familiar territory and twists and turns in a film that is ultimately relatively entertaining to watch.

The film opens with a stunning overhead shot of a lifeless body floating in the middle of a tree-lined lake. We don't know who it is or the story of how it got there. Oscar winner Julianne Moore plays Kate, still in a grieving funk nine months after a tragic accident killed her wife Patty (Kristina Valada-Viars, "Chicago Med"), who is seen only in flashbacks and heard on saved voicemails. Kate manages to crawl from bed each morning and do just enough to keep her horses alive on the farm where her business is giving riding lessons. Since she's cancelled most of those lessons, she must grovel to her ex-husband (Kyle MacLachlan) so she can fix the sagging roof on her barn. The two argue about money, her state of mind, and their daughter ... whom dad describes as "sick".

It doesn't take long for us to understand how all the pieces of their argument fit together because daughter Claire (Sydney Sweeney, "The White Lotus", "Euphoria") shows up at the farm, and we learn that her mother Kate is the ultimate example of an enabler. Claire has a long-standing drug problem as well as the corresponding mental issues. She knows her mother can be manipulated into doing just about anything for her. It doesn't take long for a couple of other players to enter. Ryan (Edmund Duncan) is Claire's drug-addled boyfriend, and Jackie (the ubiquitous Domhnall Gleeson) is their compelling drug dealer ... one who is out about ten grand due to the idiocy of Claire and Ryan.

Once the dynamics are in place, the twists and turns begin - none of which will be detailed here. You should know that it's all pretty suspenseful provided you are able to overlook a bit of creative stretching from a storytelling perspective. Fiona Shaw plays Kate's bestie Leslie (as mentioned in the opening paragraph), and what comes across clearly here is that this group of actors definitely elevate the material to the point where we actually care what happens to Kate, Claire, and Leslie. Ms. Moore excels in her grief, in her role as (overly) dedicated mother, and as a shrewd independent. Ms. Sweeney goes against her usual glam role and flashes some pretty impressive emotional range, while Mr. Gleeson nails the opportunistic drug dealer. It's kind of hard not to notice that the males in the story are all various shades of scumbags, save for the detective near the end.

Cinematographer Benjamin Kracun (PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN, 2020) manages to capture both the beauty of the setting and the intensity and emotion of the personal interactions. Composer Jed Kurzel (SLOW WEST, 2015; THE BABDOOK, 2014) takes a unique approach to the score, preventing it from sounding like most suspense films. It seems probable that Mr. Ingelsby writing and Mr. Pearce's directing would have been better served in a limited series ... although this outstanding cast might not have happened. I found the film's ending somewhat less than satisfying, yet overall the entertainment value was fine.

The film will premiere globally on AppleTV+ on June 13, 2025.

The telltale sign that this was a great movie was the range of emotions I felt throughout. Julianne Moore and Sydney Sweeney give incredible performances, along with the supporting actors. They truly make you feel frustrated at times, angry at other times and super sad along the way.

Julianne Moore is every enabling parent that you can never talk sense into, and Sydney Sweeney is every junkie kid that puts substance of use ahead of their family. Both characters are just as frustrating and heartbreaking as anyone who's watched this play out in real life.

And although the movie starts out a little slow, there's a twist in the middle that works toward another twist at the end that's even more surprising.

Definitely worth putting on your watch list.