Echo Valley

I loved the twists actually. Pretty smart stuff, holes of course but acting is good and it's a fun show.

That said lol way too manic. It felt like a year happened in 2 hours, and in the weirdest worst way. It wasn't allowed to breath, and it's just mediocre it a bit below that because if it.

I still liked it though. These are two very good actors. SS brings such a rawness to her unstable characters, that lack of morality but "underneath" i have a heart of gold...she is perfect for those roles. JM is always solid, but this one just doesn't allow her enough of the downtime to let the intensity really shine.

My Review- Echo Valley Apple TV My Rating. 6/10

Julianne Moore is the only reason I chose to watch this movie as I am seldom disappointed with her choice of movie roles however her fine performance in Echo Valley wasn't enough for me to have any emotional connection at all with this dysfunctional mother daughter saga.

Primarily because to quote Eve Arden's famous line from the classic 1945 mother daughter saga " Mildred Pierce " starring Joan Crawford as Mildred and her selfish self obsessed daughter Veda played by Ann Blyth .

"Personally, Veda's convinced me that alligators have the right idea. They eat their young." That's for sure! Now that was a classic I still adore .

The selfish unpleasant daughter in Echo Valley is Claire Garretson played by Sydney Sweeney a drug addict who returns home to torment her mother Kate Garretson played by Julianne Moore when she needs money for drugs.

However this time she's in real trouble with her dealer and boyfriend that drags her mother into a whirlpool of crime and mayhem.

I usually have compassion for movies or series about addiction that feature the eventual rehabilitation or at least the desire to turn their lives around.

Echo Valley however is just about total dysfunctional and manipulative characters with no redemption at all. It does effectively show the lengths both the addict and the parents of addicts will go to either to get drugs or in this mother's case to try a protect her daughter.

Brad Ingelsby who wrote Mare of Easttown which I loved wrote Echo Valley but in this case his story doesn't echo his previous success.

Despite a good cast that includes Fiona Shaw the story descended into implausible melodrama for this viewer.

This movie will intentionally frustrate almost everyone at some point. From the enabling doting mother and entitled addict brat of a daughter to the sheer audacity of Jackie you will scream at the movie at some point. It gets into some really thick weeds and you can't figure out how it's going to work out by the end. It also ramps way up towards the end but in a very manipulative way. I realize the end was being left open to a potential sequel but I really wanted the satisfaction of what should have been done earlier and never got it.

Overall it was a good movie with good acting and direction but be prepared to be manipulated by the director and script, all is not as it may seem.

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.

In lacklustre thriller "Echo Valley" struggling horse-rancher Julianne Moore has various issues, many rising (to the chagrin of ex-hubbie Kyle Lachlan (cameo)) from her coddling of manipulative addict daughter Sydney Sweeney... who drags her into an implausible plot involving death, cover up, nasty drug dealer Domhnall Gleeson, extortion, Moore's pal Fiona Shaw, and a whole lotta lies. Performances are ok, Brad Ingelsby's screenplay twists along (albeit rather clunkily), and it's all bolted together by director Michael Pearce (albeit with way less atmosphere than in his first two movies "Beast" & "Encounter"). It's passable, but with all its talent it should be MUCH better.