‘ECHO VALLEY’ IS A REALLY DARK MYSTERY
About characters who have tough choices, Echo Valley isn’t what I would expect it to be.
Echo Valley (2025) Apple TV+ Film Review
Drowning under the weight of sorrow, both emotional and cash flow, Kate (Julianne Moore) tries to keep alive a farm that boards horses, and she once gave riding lessons. Her cash flow requires she asks for funds from her ex, but her own tragedy of losing her partner keeps Kate unable to really move forward. The one person she does still love and want to protect is Claire (Sydney Sweeney), the daughter she loves more than anything else.
After trying for years to get Claire better, watching her OD, and make irresponsible choices, finally Kate tells her to leave. Then Claire shows up again. This time she’s scared and wears blood that isn’t hers.
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‘ECHO VALLEY’ IS A REALLY DARK MYSTERY. See Julianne Moore and #SydneySweeney in the #AppleTV original #EchoValley. #Drama #Mystery Share on XA title I was sure would be about the bond (even misguided) between a mother and daughter, this one is surprisingly actually more about other hard things. It’s about choices and about trying to survive the consequences of those choices. In actuality, it’s way more about Julianne Moore’s Kate than it ever is about Claire. This is also one of those films that, no matter how you look at it, feels like it’s impossible to give the film a happy ending. Which is something we all know I’m not fond of.
Photo: Apple TV+ Press
The film is certainly “good” if you like mysteries that are dark but not scary. Echo Valley has this cornered well. It’s also a film that allows Moore’s Kate to be smart though the “why” she’s forced to be so is quite sad. The performances are really good and intense, and in some ways, while I wouldn’t call it happy, I like to think Kate is finally going to be okay by the end of this film. But there is also a kind of sinister feeling at the end of, is it starting again?
Dark yes, but if this type of story doesn’t bother you, then this one may be something you’ll want to give a chance. It certainly won’t be something I’ll watch again, but the performances are solid and I have to give props to Moore for really carrying a film that I had no idea she was going to bear the weight of. She proves again that she does a nice job and that she does do different roles well. Sweeney too, while being the current “it girl” in Hollywood, may be seen as one thing, but I think, based on her filmography, she is proving she can do many genres.
Like I said, this isn’t something I’ll be watching again. It just didn’t suit me, but if you like dark dramas, then I do think it’s interesting.
Photos: Apple TV+
Stream, at publication, on Apple TV+
Content: lots of F-words. There are also about 3 or so intense scenes. Claire yells intensely at her mother and tells her she hates her. Both women receive blows to their heads during this argument (one is intentional, the other accidental). A man beats up a woman; he kicks her. Later, he threatens and sticks (with a needle) another woman. Talk of killing horses occurs; we hear them in distress but don’t see anything “graphic” (they don’t die). A woman is in a (presumably) abusive and very toxic relationship. Two other characters, if this bothers you, are/were in same-sex relationships. The film rates R.
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