# Echo Valley
**Echo Valley** is a 2025 American thriller film directed by Michael Pearce and written by Brad Ingelsby, starring [Julianne Moore](https://www.edgepedia.org/julianne-moore) and [Sydney Sweeney](https://www.edgepedia.org/sydney-sweeney) as a mother and daughter whose relationship is tested when the daughter arrives at her mother's farm covered in someone else's blood. It was produced by Apple Original Films and released in a limited theatrical run on June 6, 2025, before streaming on Apple TV+ from June 13, 2025.[1](https://www.apple.com/uk/tv-pr/originals/echo-valley/) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/echo_valley)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writer | Michael Pearce (director); Brad Ingelsby (writer and producer)[1](https://www.apple.com/uk/tv-pr/originals/echo-valley/) |
| Producers | Ridley Scott, Michael A. Pruss, Kevin J. Walsh, and Brad Ingelsby[3](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/echo-valley/umc.cmc.1al6pi2y17htw3z98tbacgo55) |
| Cast | Julianne Moore (Kate Garretson), Sydney Sweeney (Claire Garretson), Domhnall Gleeson (Jackie), Fiona Shaw, Kyle MacLachlan, Edmund Donovan[3](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/echo-valley/umc.cmc.1al6pi2y17htw3z98tbacgo55) • [4](https://www.pluggedin.com/movie-reviews/echo-valley-2025/) |
| Release | Limited theatrical release June 6, 2025; streaming on Apple TV+ June 13, 2025[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/echo_valley) |
| Runtime and rating | 1 hour 44 minutes (104 minutes); rated R for language throughout, some violence and drug material[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/echo_valley) • [5](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/echo-valley-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdmwmtgw) |
| Critical reception | Metascore 54 (mixed or average); 53% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 93 reviews[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/echo-valley/critic-reviews/) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/echo_valley) |
| Recognition | Nominated for a 2026 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film, Streaming or TV[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27052633/awards/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and premise
Kate Garrettson (Julianne Moore) is a horse trainer living a quiet life on a secluded farm in southern Pennsylvania, grieving the death of her partner and struggling financially after paying for her daughter's rehabilitation.[8](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/apple-tv-plus/apple-tv-plus-new-thriller-movie-with-sydney-sweeney-is-loaded-with-twists-you-wont-expect-and-you-can-stream-it-now) • [9](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-19/echo-valley-review-julianne-moore-sydney-sweeney/105431638) Her estranged daughter Claire (Sydney Sweeney), who struggles with drug addiction, arrives late one night hysterical and covered in blood that is not her own, claiming she was involved in a violent altercation with her boyfriend.[8](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/apple-tv-plus/apple-tv-plus-new-thriller-movie-with-sydney-sweeney-is-loaded-with-twists-you-wont-expect-and-you-can-stream-it-now) As Kate pieces together what happened, she is drawn into a dangerous cover-up, and a threatening figure from Claire's life, her dealer Jackie ([Domhnall Gleeson](https://www.edgepedia.org/domhnall-gleeson)), pulls her into a blackmail situation.[8](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/apple-tv-plus/apple-tv-plus-new-thriller-movie-with-sydney-sweeney-is-loaded-with-twists-you-wont-expect-and-you-can-stream-it-now) • [10](https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/movies/movie-reviews/echo-valley-review-julianne-moore-should-play-the-irish-mammy-when-her-bratty-teen-turns-up-with-a-dead-body/a1731365662.html)
Apple's press synopsis frames the story as a tale of love, sacrifice, and survival, asking how far a mother will go to try to save her child.[1](https://www.apple.com/uk/tv-pr/originals/echo-valley/) Reviewers described the film as shifting registers: a domestic family drama for much of its running time, a psychological thriller once the dead body is introduced, and a crime caper in its final act.[9](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-19/echo-valley-review-julianne-moore-sydney-sweeney/105431638)
### Cast and characters
- Julianne Moore as Kate Garretson, a horse trainer and grieving mother[3](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/echo-valley/umc.cmc.1al6pi2y17htw3z98tbacgo55)
- Sydney Sweeney as Claire Garretson, Kate's troubled daughter[3](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/echo-valley/umc.cmc.1al6pi2y17htw3z98tbacgo55)
- Domhnall Gleeson as Jackie, a threatening figure from Claire's life[3](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/echo-valley/umc.cmc.1al6pi2y17htw3z98tbacgo55) • [8](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/apple-tv-plus/apple-tv-plus-new-thriller-movie-with-sydney-sweeney-is-loaded-with-twists-you-wont-expect-and-you-can-stream-it-now)
- [Fiona Shaw](https://www.edgepedia.org/fiona-shaw) as Leslie Oliver, Kate's best friend[3](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/echo-valley/umc.cmc.1al6pi2y17htw3z98tbacgo55) • [9](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-19/echo-valley-review-julianne-moore-sydney-sweeney/105431638)
- [Kyle MacLachlan](https://www.edgepedia.org/kyle-maclachlan) as Richard Garretson, Claire's father[3](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/echo-valley/umc.cmc.1al6pi2y17htw3z98tbacgo55) • [10](https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/movies/movie-reviews/echo-valley-review-julianne-moore-should-play-the-irish-mammy-when-her-bratty-teen-turns-up-with-a-dead-body/a1731365662.html)
- Edmund Donovan as Ryan Sinclair[3](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/echo-valley/umc.cmc.1al6pi2y17htw3z98tbacgo55)
## Production
The screenplay came from Brad Ingelsby, the writer of *Mare of Easttown*, and the story was inspired by his aunt, who operated a horse farm named Echo Valley. Director Michael Pearce said he visited the real farm but found it not quite right for the screen.[11](https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/where-was-echo-valley-filmed/)
Although the film is set in Pennsylvania, it was shot in New Jersey, including [Hunterdon County](https://www.edgepedia.org/hunterdon-county) and Rockaway, with a large part of Moore and Sweeney's scenes filmed at a farm in Delaware Township, New Jersey. Pearce said the search for a location that was both idyllic and atmospheric enough to sustain most of the film took a long time, and the chosen farm was found very late in preproduction while it was in escrow.[11](https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/where-was-echo-valley-filmed/)
**Strikes and completion.** The production wrapped six weeks of filming before being shut down by the 2023 actors' and writers' strikes, then paused for a full year before returning for final scenes, including underwater sequences filmed at [Pinewood Studios](https://www.edgepedia.org/pinewood-studios), with the rest shot in New Jersey.[12](https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/julianne-moore-echo-valley-stunts-bruises-dancing-b1232412.html)
## Reception
Critical response was mixed. The film holds a Metascore of 54, classified by Metacritic as mixed or average, based on 22 critic reviews, and a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer of 53 percent from 93 reviews.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/echo-valley/critic-reviews/) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/echo_valley) The Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus credits Julianne Moore's committed performance and the relatable premise of how far a parent will go for their child, while faulting the plotting.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/echo_valley)
Positive reviews singled out the performances. Collider gave the film 80 and called it a tense thriller propelled by Moore, Sweeney, and a "never scarier" Domhnall Gleeson; The Telegraph and [The Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-times) also scored it 80, with The Telegraph praising Ingelsby's use of phone tracking and instant messaging as dramatic assets.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/echo-valley/critic-reviews/) More negative reviews included IndieWire's 58, which described the later sections as a soapy crime saga that diverts attention from the central relationship, and the NME review headlined that even Moore and Sweeney could not save what it called a hollow thriller.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/echo-valley/critic-reviews/) • [13](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/echo-valley-review-sydney-sweeney-julianne-moore-apple-tv-3869048)
Several reviewers converged on the same structural criticism: the mother-daughter relationship is strongest in the first half, while the third act shifts toward crime-thriller mechanics that some found rushed or implausible.[9](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-19/echo-valley-review-julianne-moore-sydney-sweeney/105431638) • [8](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/apple-tv-plus/apple-tv-plus-new-thriller-movie-with-sydney-sweeney-is-loaded-with-twists-you-wont-expect-and-you-can-stream-it-now) Common Sense Media highlighted the film as much about the toll addiction takes on relationships as about its plot, noting Sweeney's portrayal of a character who moves between loving daughter, fearful tears, stoned detachment, and violent outbursts.[14](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/echo-valley)
The film received one nomination at the 2026 GLAAD Media Awards, for Outstanding Film, Streaming or TV.[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27052633/awards/)
## References
1. [Echo Valley, Apple TV Press (UK)](https://www.apple.com/uk/tv-pr/originals/echo-valley/)
2. [Echo Valley, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/echo_valley)
3. [Watch Echo Valley, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/echo-valley/umc.cmc.1al6pi2y17htw3z98tbacgo55)
4. [Echo Valley, Plugged In movie review](https://www.pluggedin.com/movie-reviews/echo-valley-2025/)
5. [Echo Valley, BBFC](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/echo-valley-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdmwmtgw)
6. [Echo Valley critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/echo-valley/critic-reviews/)
7. [Echo Valley (2025) Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27052633/awards/)
8. [Apple TV Plus just dropped its new thriller movie, Tom's Guide](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/apple-tv-plus/apple-tv-plus-new-thriller-movie-with-sydney-sweeney-is-loaded-with-twists-you-wont-expect-and-you-can-stream-it-now)
9. [Echo Valley stars Julianne Moore and Sydney Sweeney as mother and daughter, ABC News](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-19/echo-valley-review-julianne-moore-sydney-sweeney/105431638)
10. [Echo Valley review, Irish Independent](https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/movies/movie-reviews/echo-valley-review-julianne-moore-should-play-the-irish-mammy-when-her-bratty-teen-turns-up-with-a-dead-body/a1731365662.html)
11. [Where Was Echo Valley Filmed?, Us Weekly](https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/where-was-echo-valley-filmed/)
12. [Julianne Moore on shooting thriller Echo Valley, The Standard](https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/julianne-moore-echo-valley-stunts-bruises-dancing-b1232412.html)
13. [Echo Valley review, NME](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/echo-valley-review-sydney-sweeney-julianne-moore-apple-tv-3869048)
14. [Echo Valley, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/echo-valley)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2025–2026 films › Psychological and erotic thrillers*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license