'Echo Valley' Apple TV+ Review: Julianne Moore Led Film Is The Perfect Thriller For Pride Month

A long time ago, while watching a trailer for a movie called Breaking the Girls, I had lamented about the state of crime thrillers featuring lesbian characters. Yes, it was true that when I made that comment, I hadn’t watched The Wachowskis’ Bound. When I corrected that mistake, my brain was rewired, and I loved the filmmaking duo even more. After that, I came across Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden, which simply had me hooked from the first scene to the last. 2024 was a significant year for lesbians taking on gangsters and drug lords, as we got Ethan Coen’s Drive-Away Dolls and Rose Glass’ Love Lies Bleeding, both of which come highly recommended from my end. Now, since Echo Valley, which stars Julianne Moore, adding yet another queer character to her already illustrious filmography, and Fiona Shaw, a prolific actress who identifies as lesbian and whose character in the film is also lesbian, was labeled as a thriller, I was optimistic about adding it to the aforementioned list of movies. And I can’t begin to explain how it toyed with my feelings before giving me the catharsis that I desired.

Michael Pearce’s Echo Valley, written by Brad Ingelsby, tells the story of Kate, the caretaker of the titular ranch for horses, who has recently lost her wife, Patty, in an accident. She has stopped giving horse-riding lessons, and the establishment is in a sorry state. When she goes to ask her ex-husband, Richard, to cover the cost of the repairs, we learn that they have a daughter, Claire, who is a drug addict. While Richard has completely given up on her, Kate continues to pamper Claire and entertain all her whims; when she occasionally decides to come home, that is. During one such visit, Claire informs Kate that she and her boyfriend, Ryan, owe a notorious drug dealer named Jackie $10,000. When Kate refuses to enable Claire any more and forces her to face the consequences of her actions, she drives off into the night with Ryan. A few days later, Claire shows up with a dead body in the backseat of her car. Realizing that her only daughter might go to jail for murder, Kate moves heaven and earth to safeguard Claire from any kind of harm. By the time Kate realizes that the whole thing is a trap, it’s too late. Or is it?

Ingelsby treats the first act of Echo Valley like every other movie about a parent dealing with their drug addict child, e.g., Basketball Diaries, Withdrawal, and Trainspotting. Without really answering why—because there are no easy answers—children take to drugs and abuse their familial relationships to extreme lengths just so that they can score a hit, Ingelsby underscores how harrowing it is for a parent to experience all that. When it hit the aforementioned low point, where a dead body shows up, thereby initiating the second act, I began wondering if the film was just going to drag its feet to end and conclude with a “don’t do drugs” statement. Boy, oh boy, was I wrong, because what happened after that was probably one of the most interesting 5D chess mind games that I have seen in a while. I won’t spoil what happened, but by shifting genres, the movie defied certain expectations. Since Kate was a queer woman who was struggling with financial issues and had a daughter who had lost her way, I am not going to lie, I was afraid Ingelsby was about to turn her into an example of “the negative effects of the LGBTQ+ movement on society” or some other homophobic propaganda. But Ingelsby shows how easy it is to weaponize those preconceived notions against antisocial, borderline terrorist elements, which may or may not involve your own child.

Instead of making a statement about how society still sees queer women, Echo Valley underscores how that prejudiced perspective can affect the children of queer women. It shows that while parents who identify as queer don’t really care about what the general public thinks of them, they aren’t immune to their children’s actions. I mean, what are you supposed to do if your son or daughter is exploiting the fact that you can’t give up on them because that’s going to further every stereotype that’s associated with single mothers, queer women, or just women in general? How do you come out on top without hurting someone in the process? In this increasingly cynical world, who do you trust when you have been betrayed by your own blood? These existential questions are underscored by the visual storytelling of Pearce and his team. The way Pearce, along with cinematographer Benjamin Kracun and editor Maya Maffioli, expresses the theme of isolation and loneliness is mesmerizing. The VFX team should definitely get some awards for a particularly harrowing scene between Jackie and Kate, where both of them move at different frame rates, thereby highlighting how the latter feels while being engulfed in this whirlpool of chaos. And then there’s the finale, which is chock-full of just the most amazing intercutting between several pivotal moments to give us the bigger picture, and is only elevated by Jed Kurzel’s music.

Coming to the performances in Echo Valley, Julianne Moore is fantastic as ever. Her portrayal of grief, conflict, pain, and eventual triumph is just so fascinating. I think that the first time that I saw her on the screen was in The Lost World, and it’s so great to watch her continuously evolve her oeuvre at this stage of her career. I’m not going to lie, she had me hooting and hollering during the third act. Sydney Sweeney continues to prove that she is one of the best (of the current crop of actors). I always find it weird that she is reduced to this sex symbol when, time and again, she has shown that she can run circles around legends without breaking a sweat. I mean, the ease with which she makes Claire such a hateworthy character should be studied. Domhnall Gleeson is scary. Watching this right after American Made brought me to the realization that this guy, who has played some of the nicest characters in fiction, actually has the ability to get under your skin within 10 seconds. Fiona Shaw is, as usual, the showstopper. It’s a glorified cameo, but because it’s Shaw, she makes Les impactful enough to make her feel like the second lead. Also, the scene where she and Moore dance their hearts out increased my lifespan by a couple of years. Edmund Donovan, Albert Jones, Kyle MacLachlan, Rebecca Creskoff, and the rest of the supporting cast are splendid. A round of applause for all of them.

Echo Valley is brilliant. The viewing experience was nothing short of an emotional rollercoaster ride. All throughout the first act, I was sort of fuming at the notion that the impressive work done by legendary casting director Avy Kaufman was about to be wasted on a nothingburger plot. Then the second act kicked in, and I sort of sat up in my chair, while still being cautiously optimistic about where all of this was heading towards. And by the third act, I had turned into Billy Eichner, shouting, “Let’s go, lesbians. Let’s go!” at the top of my lungs. Hence, this is the ultimate crime thriller for this Pride Month, in my humble opinion. Speaking of Pride Month, I always find it difficult to organize a queer cinema viewing session because of, well, work. And although my work involves watching movies and TV shows, the part of the media landscape that I have to deal with on a daily basis is still really heterocentric. So, every time I come across a film with queer characters or themes that just so happens to cater to my extremely specific needs, I can’t help but celebrate that moment. Anyway, if all that sounds like a recommendation to you, please, go and watch Echo Valley.