Miracle Valley

Miracle Valley is a 2021 horror film written, directed, and produced by Greg Sestero.

Plot synopsis
An obsessive nature photographer and his girlfriend are invited to a desert getaway where they uncover a sinister cult.

Production
Sestero wrote the screenplay while living in Arizona, where the film was also shot and set, and was inspired by locations in the state including an abandoned church in Cochise County and an abandoned mine house in Patagonia, Arizona. Sestero wanted to write an homage to Slasher cinema and 1970s horror cinema, and also cited The Thing, Don't Breathe, Breakdown, and the works of Alfred Hitchcock including Psycho.

Sestero scouted locations himself for the film, and collaborated with Matthew Halla as director of photography, whom he had met through USC School of Cinematic Arts.

The film was produced by Tom Franco, who also produced The Disaster Artist, the film adaptation of Greg Sestero's book of the same name, and his wife Iris Torres. Torres also worked on the film as assistant director.

Release
The film premiered at the Salem Horror Festival in 2021. It was released on streaming service Tubi on September 16 2022.

Reception
Both Sestero and critics compared the film to The Room, a cult film Sestero starred in, which has been called "the best worst movie ever made." Referencing the film, Sestero said, "Hopefully, Miracle Valley ends up as the second best worst movie ever made." while, writing for Sight and Sound, critic Anton Bitel wrote, "Perhaps Sestero’s debut as writer/director seeks to replicate The Room's peculiar effect, leaving the viewer unsure whether its tone-deaf awfulness is a product of unhinged sincerity or knowing irony."