Echo Valley (2025)

Echo Valley (2025) is an American thriller starring Sydney Sweeney and Julianne Moore. Finally, another film that isn’t too bad for 2025!

I’m not necessarily a huge fan of intro scenes! How many intro scenes are the only good parts of certain films? And how many of them are useless, because they give a clue about what’s to come, but also spoil the surprise and make the plot predictable?

You’re not going to tell me that all films with a good intro are among the best films? There are films that get straight to the point. Of course, it’s good to sometimes have a narrator who explains things to set the scene, the region, the main characters. But we don’t often really need flashbacks or flash-forwards.

Ridley Scott is one of the producers of this film, if you’re wondering. Does Julianne Moore still need any introduction? This actress has never stopped working and has made her mark in many films such as The Big Lebowski, Magnolia, Jurassic Park: The Lost World, Boogie Nights, Psycho (1998), Still Alice, Next, Evolution…

This actress, capable of anything, knows how to adapt to younger actresses of the new generation, as she proved in Chloe (2010) with Amanda Seyfried and Freeheld (2015) with Elliot Page.

I’ve lost count of the number of masterpieces in which she has appeared alongside so many other great actors. Take Benny & Joon (1993), for example!

Julianne is unbeatable in my top 10 list of best actresses. Here, she faces off against Sydney Sweeney (Nocturne, Reality, Immaculate, Under the Silver Lake, Along Came The Devil), an excellent actress who also directed one of the segments of the anthology Clementine (2019). But I don’t know what happened here. Because we don’t see her that much! It’s as if she lost her nerve in the face of Julianne’s power and wasn’t able to play as big a role as we expected. What a shame!

It’s a fairly powerful film, far from bad. Yes, there are a few slow moments, but Moore carries the film, once again like a boss. It’s an interesting story, with a touch of originality, especially considering how difficult it is to stand out in this day and age.

The feature film is a decent length. It’s a fairly standard thriller: no excessive violence, no unbearable suspense, drugs, murder, secrets and more serious lies. And, of course, there are always dirty tricks!

We see very little of Kyle MacLachlan, but it’s nice to see him here again!

Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson, son of Brendan Gleeson, is terrifying in this film! Not in terms of his acting, but in terms of his character. He is very good in this despicable and odious role.

What a pleasure to see Fiona Shaw! Yes, another Irish woman! Her character is probably the best in this film. The kind of friend we all want to have.

Echo Valley received a limited theatrical release in the United States and Canada on 6 June 2025, before being released on Apple TV+. It is an American thriller directed by Michael Pearce and written by Brad Ingelsby.

This film is good, but it’s not one I’ll watch over and over again. The fact that a mother will do anything to cover up for her troubled child can be really annoying and sickening. We think it’s weakness, but it’s just the unconditional love of a parent who would do anything for their child, even if it means getting into serious trouble themselves. Which is obviously not the right thing to do! I don’t condone these attitudes, but I understand them! No, everyone should be corrected for their mistakes, punished for their crimes and rewarded for their good deeds.

The ending is anticlimactic. The director probably wants us to guess what happens next… but it’s a little too obvious! Even if we hope for radical changes in the lives of these protagonists…