Drowning Echo (2019), written and directed by Georges Padey, tells the story of a young woman plagued by a monster straight from Greek mythology. We open on our star, Sara, played by the film’s co-writer Itziar Martinez, being pulled into a pool by some unknown force. Immediately we sense there may be something more to this scene than meets the eye.

Skip back in time a little and we are introduced to Will (Sean Ormond) and his girlfriend Lindsay (Natalie Blackman). Natalie is leaving for a work trip to Greece, and Will has invited longtime friend Sara round to help cheer her up after her parents passed away.

When she arrives, Sara is invited to a pool party where she meets some other residents of Will’s apartment block; good-looking asshole, Zac (Dennis Mencia), down to earth nurse Kate (Josephine Phoenix) and broody asshole Alex (Raul Walder). Tension is immediately set high when Alex warns Sara that she isn’t safe there, and Zac starts being predatory towards Sara. It makes for some uncomfortable moments, and we feel for Sara who is already struggling with the loss of her parents.

Zac finally leaves Sara alone in the pool, and this is where the strangeness really sets in. Sara stays in the pool for a few moments, then leaves to go to bed. She drinks some water and suddenly finds herself back in the pool, being dragged down by an invisible force. This repeats multiple times, and she attempts to contact Will for help. Will is at work, so instead, she leaves to stay in a motel and calls on Kate for assistance. Kate is very skeptical, asking Sara how much she had to drink.

While Sara eventually debriefs Will on the whole situation, a secondary mystery is revealed wherein a girl went missing from the very same pool a little while ago, something Alex witnessed. Sara ends up contacting a psychic (Omara Garcia) for help, who at first seems like a charlatan, but ends up having some wild visions and rushing Sara out of her house out of fear.

Eventually, Lindsay’s venture to Greece comes into play when she reveals she’s there to remedy the situation that the apartment block has with their pool. Some long-winded exposition later and we have a relatively intriguing climax wherein people get killed, our antagonist is revealed and essentially the problem is solved; though perhaps not in the way we were expecting.

Drowning Echo is a somewhat low budget film, and this does show throughout with some less-than-great acting, shabby camera work and often strange editing choices. However, it does have value in the originality of the story; rarely will you see an ancient Greek monster inhabiting the pool of a Florida apartment building. There are some good CGI moments, and good sound-effects, helping to ramp up the realism of the threat. I imagine water can be difficult to film, so kudos to them for being so ambitious with the filming and SPFX.

An interesting and highly ambitious film, Drowning Echo was clearly made with passion. If the idea of Greek mythology in horror sounds up your alley, give Drowning Echo a shot; but don’t expect it to delve too deep into the details of the mythology.