'No-One Sees The Twist Coming': Why Apple TV+'s Latest Thriller 'Echo Valley' Is A Must-Watch

Elle

a day ago

Not all crime thrillers and whodunnits were created equally, which Michael Pearce, the director of AppleTV+'s latest haunted flick, Echo Valley, is all too aware of. 'No-one sees the twist coming,' Pearce told ELLE UK's Deputy Editor, Lena de Casparis, at an exclusive screening of the film this week. 'But it was really that and the strength of the writing that made me want to sign on to direct it.'
The film, which is the brainchild of Mare of Easttown writer, Brad Ingelsby, tells the delicate story of a fraught mother-daughter relationship buckling under the strain of addiction. Julianne Moore stars as Kate, a divorced mother-of-one, who trains horses on a farm she can't technically afford to keep afloat. She divorced Richard (Kyle MacLachlan), the father of her child, a successful lawyer, and the woman Kate subsequently married died. Her life is buoyed, though, by her unapologetic adoration of her only child Claire (Sydney Sweeney), who is struggling with drug addiction and, as such, has fallen in with the wrong crowd.
FIND OUT MORE ON ELLE COLLECTIVE
It's that wrong crowd that provide the backbone of the story of Echo Valley. When Claire relapses and returns home, asking Kate (who has drained her bank account funding rehabilitation programmes for her daughter) for help, Kate finds herself face-to-face with unsympathetic drug dealer Jackie Lyman (Domhnall Gleeson). The fallout is edge-of-your-seat, thriller magic. It's a story in which Moore and Sweeney shine, despite the darkness of their character's stories.
The cast filmed for six weeks before the set of the film was shut down owing to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. One year later, with the strikes resolved, they were able to return to the set to finish filming, which Pearce admitted was hard. You wouldn't know it from watching the film though. Moore and Sweeney's performances are bolstered by appearances from Fiona Shaw and Domhnall Gleeson, and there's one scene in particular — when you see it, you'll know — in which Kate and Claire erupt into a violent row. Pearce admitted that it's his favourite scene of the film, purely because Moore and Sweeney both lost themselves in it entirely.
The mother-daughter cultural cannon isn't short of efforts to depict the fragility of the dynamic, but Echo Valley's is a nice, if not entirely necessary, addition. For fans of thrillers — or purely fans of Moore's and Sweeney's — Echo Valley is a film that leaves a mark and, perhaps most importantly, will leave you wanting to call your mother and tell her you love her.
Echo Valley is available to stream now on AppleTV+.
ELLE Collective is a new community of fashion, beauty and culture lovers. For access to exclusive content, events, inspiring advice from our Editors and industry experts, as well the opportunity to meet designers, thought-leaders and stylists, become a member today HERE.
Naomi May is a freelance writer and editor with an emphasis on popular culture, lifestyle and politics. After graduating with a First Class Honours from City University's prestigious Journalism course, Naomi joined the Evening Standard as its Fashion and Beauty Writer, working across both the newspaper and website. She is now the Acting News Editor at ELLE UK and has written features for the likes of The Guardian, Vogue, Vice and Refinery29, among many others.