Directed by Michael Pearce (Beast), Echo Valley (2025) is a brooding psychological thriller that unfolds in the eerie quiet of rural Pennsylvania. At its heart is Julianne Moore as Kate Garretson — a grieving widow clinging to her crumbling horse farm and haunted by the emotional wreckage of her past. When her estranged daughter Claire (Sydney Sweeney) arrives with a suspicious tale of accidental murder, Kate is drawn into a spiral of deception, violence, and maternal desperation. With standout performances from Domhnall Gleeson and Fiona Shaw, the film explores themes of grief, addiction, motherhood, and moral compromise. It’s a slow-burn thriller where trauma simmers beneath every scene, culminating in a suspenseful finale that raises questions about forgiveness and letting go.
If you’re looking for movies like Echo Valley — stories steeped in maternal turmoil, isolation, and morally grey decision-making — here are 7 powerful films that echo (pun intended) its dark emotional landscape.
1. Mother (2009)
Directed by: Bong Joon-ho
Starring: Kim Hye-ja, Won Bin
This South Korean masterpiece centers around an aging mother determined to prove her mentally challenged son’s innocence after he is accused of murder. As she begins to investigate on her own, secrets emerge that blur the lines between justice and obsession. Mother is a powerful exploration of maternal sacrifice — where love is not only blind but dangerously fierce.
Like Echo Valley, it places a mother in the crosshairs of a morally compromising situation. Both Kate and the unnamed mother are driven by instinct to protect their children, even when the truth becomes murky. For those seeking movies like Echo Valley, Mother is an emotionally gutting experience with similar themes of blurred morality and a relentless maternal will.
2. Winter’s Bone (2010)
Directed by: Debra Granik
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes
In the Ozarks, a teenage girl named Ree Dolly embarks on a desperate search for her missing father to save her family from eviction. Navigating a criminal world steeped in silence and suspicion, she faces danger at every turn.
Winter’s Bone mirrors Echo Valley in tone and setting — both films evoke the bleakness of rural America and the emotional solitude it brings. Like Kate, Ree is drawn into a perilous mystery involving loyalty, lies, and the need to protect loved ones at all costs. It’s one of the most affecting movies like Echo Valley, especially in how it renders the rural landscape as both suffocating and sacred.
3. Prisoners (2013)
Directed by: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello
A father takes justice into his own hands when his daughter and her friend go missing, believing the police have failed. What follows is a psychological descent as he holds a suspect captive, hoping for answers.
Prisoners is a gripping, slow-burning thriller much like Echo Valley, both steeped in moral ambiguity and the pain of losing control. Kate’s decision to protect Claire at all costs — even covering up a murder — echoes the choices made by Keller Dover in Prisoners. For fans of movies like Echo Valley, this is essential viewing for its blend of taut suspense and parental desperation.
4. The Deep End (2001)
Directed by: Scott McGehee, David Siegel
Starring: Tilda Swinton, Goran Visnjic
When her teenage son becomes entangled in a suspicious death, a mother covers it up to protect him, only to be blackmailed by a mysterious man. The plot thickens as emotional tensions rise and secrets unravel.
Tilda Swinton’s nuanced performance as a woman pushed into criminality by her love for her child is reminiscent of Julianne Moore’s controlled but fraying composure in Echo Valley. Both films dig deep into the instinctual panic that arises when motherhood and morality clash. If you’re searching for movies like Echo Valley, The Deep End is a hidden gem that deserves your attention.
5. Run (2020)
Directed by: Aneesh Chaganty
Starring: Sarah Paulson, Kiera Allen
Diane has raised her disabled daughter Chloe in isolation — but as Chloe begins to suspect that something is off, the tension explodes into a horrifying thriller about control and identity.
Unlike Echo Valley, which revolves around a mother willing to believe and protect, Run flips the script by showing a mother who will do anything to maintain control. But both stories share chilling depictions of toxic maternal dynamics, secrets buried under domestic life, and the dangers of misplaced love. For fans of psychological thrillers and movies like Echo Valley, Run is a tightly-wound experience that will leave you breathless.
6. A History of Violence (2005)
Directed by: David Cronenberg
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello
A small-town diner owner becomes a local hero after stopping a violent robbery, but his past begins to catch up with him — dragging his family into a spiral of revelations and bloodshed.
This film probes the idea that violence is never truly behind us, no matter how well we’ve buried it — a central idea in Echo Valley as well. Kate’s meticulously planned life at the farm is disrupted by secrets and past mistakes, just like Mortensen’s character. For those interested in movies like Echo Valley, A History of Violence examines the cost of keeping dangerous truths hidden and the fragility of domestic peace.
7. The Lost Daughter (2021)
Directed by: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Starring: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson
A woman’s seaside vacation is disrupted by the arrival of a young mother and her daughter, triggering memories of her own troubled past as a parent. The story unfolds in fragmented recollections, exploring regret, autonomy, and identity.
While not a thriller in the traditional sense, The Lost Daughter is thematically aligned with Echo Valley. Both feature emotionally distant protagonists haunted by the complexities of motherhood and the impossible expectations placed on women. Watching Kate relive happier memories with her late wife and younger Claire parallels Olivia Colman’s reflections on her own failures. As one of the most introspective movies like Echo Valley, it leaves a lingering ache in the heart.
