In the Valley of Elah
A dedicated Army colonel teams with his wife and a skeptical detective to uncover the truth behind their son's mysterious disappearance after returning from Iraq, confronting a web of military secrecy and moral betrayal.
“Sometimes finding the truth is easier than facing it.”
Synopsis
A career military officer and his wife collaborate with a police detective to investigate the circumstances surrounding their son's disappearance after he returns from a deployment in Iraq.
Credits
Related titles
No curated related titles yet. Use the edit affordance to add "More from this director", "Same franchise", or "Adaptation source material" entries — every change goes through the wiki review queue.
How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
A crew of 53+ credited
Why a floor?
This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.
Craft leads on file
Edited by Jo FrancisShot by Roger DeakinsScored by Mark IshamDesigned by Laurence Bennett
Box Office
2007 · Box office
⚖️ Fell short of break-even — grossed 1.3× its budget
Why 2.5×?
Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).
Worldwide gross
$29.5M
US & Canada: $6.8M — 23% of worldwide · International: $22.8M (77%)
Also known as
- Im Tal von Elahde
- Dans la vallée d'Elahfr
- Nella valle di Elahit
Community tags
Be the first to tag this page — tags appear right away. Try a theme, capability, or subject (e.g. WWII, heist, slow burn, time travel, A24).
Cast & Crew
53 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Barry Corbin
as Arnold Bickman
Josh Brolin
as Chief Buchwald
Frances Fisher
as Evie
Wes Chatham
as Corporal Steve Penning
Tommy Lee Jones
as Hank Deerfield
Charlize Theron
as Det. Emily Sanders
Jonathan Tucker
as Mike Deerfield
Jason Patric
as Lt. Kirklander
Susan Sarandon
as Joan Deerfield
James Franco
as Sgt. Dan Carnelli
Jake Mclaughlin
as Specialist Gordon Bonner
Mehcad Brooks
as Specialist Ennis Long
Supporting cast
30Wayne Duvall
as Detective Nugent
Brent Briscoe
as Detective Hodge
Greg Serano
as Detective Manny Nunez
Zoe Kazan
as Angie
Brent Sexton
as Lt. Burke
Devin Brochu
as David Sanders
Glenn Taranto
as Detective Wayne
Roman Arabia
as Private Robert Ortiez
Jennifer Siebel Newsom
as Jodie
Rick Gonzalez
as Phone Technician
Loren Haynes
as Police Photographer
Babak Tafti
as Iraqi Prisoner
Sean Huze
as Captain Jim Osher
Kathy Lamkin
as Chicken Shack Manager
David Doty
as Truck Parts Salesman
Pab Schwendimann
as Pussy's Bouncer
Josh Meyer
as Joseph R. Millard
Arron Shiver
as Cop
Jo Harvey Allen
as Jo Anne
Chris Browning
as Checker Box Bartender
David House
as Morgue Officer
Matthew Page
as Guard
Pierre Barrera
as TD's Bartender
Mike Hatfield
as Jo Anne's Husband
Arlin Alcala
as Neighbor (uncredited)
James Blackburn
as Cowboy (uncredited)
Esodie Geiger
as Military Nurse (uncredited)
Daniel Knight
as Detective (uncredited)
Brandon Weaver
as Morgue Tech (uncredited)
Joseph Bertot
as School Janitor
Directors
1Writers
2Producers
4Other crew
6Parents Guide
AI Personalities
Advisory Bot AI
I keep the family-safety picture honest — community advisories, AI-moderated, summarized without spin.
Ratings & reviews
Official ratings
We’re attempting to crowdsource this data.
Please submit below if you know where it’s available in your region — accurate confirmations help everyone find what they’re looking for.
Where to watch
Not currently streaming on any platform we track.
Gallery
Add imageNo community images for In the Valley of Elah yet
Add a still, a storyboard, or concept art — every image gets its own page where members can discuss it.
Trailers
No trailers logged for In the Valley of Elah yet — add the first one below.
Spot a trailer we’re missing?
Add a trailer from any film, show, or game.
Media & Uploads
Scripts, set photos, storyboards, score sketches — community-curated reference material for film students and industry professionals.
Did you or a loved one work on In the Valley of Elah?
Every stage matters — pitch decks and treatments from development, location scouts and table-reads from pre-production, set photos and crew anecdotes from production, edit-bay notes from post, and press kits, festival memories, or marketing ephemera from distribution. Any moment that didn't make the press tour, any document or photograph that's been sitting in a box — please share it so it's not lost to time.
We particularly welcome contributions from writers, producers, cast, crew, festival programmers, distributors, marketing teams, their families, and anyone who was there at any stage.
Sign in to contribute scripts, stills, photos, or behind-the-scenes stories.
Be the first to share something on In the Valley of Elah.
Scripts, scans, photos, score sketches — anything that helps another reader study this work.
Memorable quotes
Browse all →No quotes logged for In the Valley of Elah yet — add the first memorable line below.
Got a quote we’re missing?
Submit a line from any film, show, or game.
The conversation
Loading the conversation…
Comments (0)
on In the Valley of ElahNo comments yet. Be the first to share what you think.
Edit history
Loading edit history…