Illogical twists in Echo Valley, David Cronenberg's daughter debuts with Humane

Kate (Julianne Moore) is a solitary divorcee running a horse ranch in Echo Valley in America's rural Pennsylvania, where her prodigal daughter Claire (Sydney Sweeney) shows up hysterical late one night with a dead body in her car.

- Whang Yee Ling

ECHO VALLEY (M18) 104 minutes, streaming on Apple TV+ ★★☆☆☆

The story: She has, she claims, bashed in her boyfriend's (Edmund Donovan) head by accident during a spat.

How far will a parent go to protect her child? To answer the poser in the Apple TV+ thriller Echo Valley, Kate, without hesitation, goes to the local lake and disposes of the corpse.

A drug addict, Claire has furthermore unwittingly tossed out US$10,000 worth of heroin belonging to a dealer (Domhnall Gleeson) among her boyfriend's possessions. Kate, who cannot even afford her roof repair, has to somehow repay him or he will kill them both.

The depressed middle-ager, once married to a lawyer (Kyle MacLachlan), is mourning the death of her wife in a tragic accident. She cannot risk losing Claire too.

And so, it is one bad decision after another.

The same can be said of the story from Mare Of Easttown (2021) series creator Brad Ingelsby, directed by Bafta-winning British film-maker Michael Pearce of Beast (2017).