The Valley

By making the key participants in The Valley an Indian-American family with many traditional values and customs, Kariat emphasizes the universality of the problem.

A hammy and facile family drama in the TV-movie-of-the-week mode.

In her feature debut, Kariat has touched upon important themes — the immigrant experience, ageism in tech, the performance of traditional family roles, and the toll of depression — but the way she has combined them too often feels slapdash.

As an awareness tool, The Valley feels simple-minded. As a drama, it feels exploitative.

The well-intentioned script from first-time writer-director Saila Kariat tries for emotional honesty but feels like a soap opera, and the cast doesn’t help it advance past dour melodrama.