Sydney Sweeney’s New Thriller From ‘Mare of Easttown’s Writer Hits a Rough Patch on Rotten Tomatoes

On the surface, Echo Valley feels like an unexpected move for Sydney Sweeney at this stage in her career. The young star broke out with HBO’s Euphoria, and rode a massive wave of popularity all the way to the global box office success of Anyone But You, her 2023 romantic comedy also featuring Glen Powell. She did the obvious thing by signing onto a superhero movie next, but that didn’t quite work out for her. The movie in question, Madame Web, tanked miserably with both critics and audiences. Before she returns with the long-awaited third season of Euphoria, she can be seen in the Apple TV+ thriller Echo Valley, which is set for a release this Friday, but with lukewarm reviews under its belt.

Echo Valley currently holds a so-so 53% Rotten Tomatoes score, with most critics pointing out its illogical narrative and indecisive script. In his review, Collider’s Jeff Ewing wrote that the movie “explores the terrible potential of unconditional parental love, mining it for a harrowing and surprising tale.” Directed by Michael Pearce and written by Mare of Easttown‘s Brad Inglesby, the movie actually doesn’t feature Sweeney all that prominently; it’s headlined by Julianne Moore. She plays Kate, a grieving woman dealing with the death of her wife and her young daughter’s addiction.

When the daughter gets involved with a bunch of criminals and shows up at her doorstep with someone else’s blood on her clothes, Kate steps into high gear to protect her. Moore was recently seen in the Netflix dark comedy Sirens, which also featured Meghann Fahy and Milly Alcock. Although it was popular on the Netflix charts for a few weeks, the five-episode series didn’t exactly earn rave reviews. It appears to have settled at a 76% Rotten Tomatoes score. Echo Valley also features Domhnall Gleeson, who was recently seen as the villain in Guy Ritchie‘s Fountain on Youth, another movie that wasn’t deemed worthy of a theatrical release by Apple.

Sweeney Has an Exciting Slate Lined Up

Sweeney will next be seen in director Ron Howard‘s survival thriller Eden, which is slated for a theatrical release in August. The movie also features Vanessa Kirby, Ana de Armas, Jude Law, and others. She’s also filming The Housemaid, a psychological thriller that features Brandon Sklenar, Amanda Seyfried, and Michele Morrone in supporting roles. The Housemaid will be released theatrically by Lionsgate in December. You can watch Echo Valley on Apple TV+ beginning Friday. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.