MOVIE SCENE CANADA
SYNOPSIS:
In a remote village on the island of Carpathia, a farm girl named Yuri is raised to fear an animal species known as Ochi. But when Yuri discovers a wounded baby Ochi has been left behind, she escapes on an adventure to bring him home.
Where adventure, wonder, and magic converge, the Ochi reside. Writer-director Isaiah Saxon crafts a world that’s rife with imagination — a paradise for fantastical creatures and humans alike, though not without a little danger. Dense forests and alpine terrain give way to one girl’s culture-shifting bravery that serves to light a fire in the parts of us that are keen to go against the grain. Helena Zengel delivers an impassioned performance of defiance and care, opposite the ever-animated Willem Dafoe, her Ochi-crazed father.
Ochi is an environmentalist’s tale, a family’s tale, an animal lover’s tale, and more — reminiscent of our favorite (and now seldom-seen) fantastical family adventure films. The Legend of Ochi is an adventure in the purest sense, suitable for and sure to enliven most audiences.
SUNDANCE REVIEW 2025 - BY DARREN ZAKUS
DATE: Saturday, February 15, 2025
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
The Legend of Ochi is a fantastical family adventure that marks a first from A24, which instantly captures viewers imagination thanks to the fantastic creature effects used to bring the Ochis to life, that when combined with great visuals and an Amblin-esque story, the film becomes a beautiful adventure for viewers of all ages.
There is a subset of family films that are filled with wonder and an inherent darkness that captures emotional stakes and some intense moments that immediately may be deemed as too intense for some younger viewers. But in fact, some of these films have become enshrined in cinematic history as some of the most beloved family films, with the larger majority of them coming from Steven Spielberg’s production company Amblin in the 1980s and 1990s with titles like 'E.T. The Extra Terrestrial' and 'The Goonies'. Writer and director Isaiah Saxon calls back to this often forgotten family film, while pulling from inspiration of the films of Studio Ghibli, to conjure up a magical adventure to claim the title of A24’s first family film. What unfolds on screen is a beautiful friendship between our young heroine and the Baby Ochi that she befriends, with gorgeous visuals and an incredible musical score from David Longstreth that conjures up a great adventure for the entire family to enjoy.
The success of The Legend of Ochi hinges on the visual appearance of the Ochis themselves, and instead of relying on computer generated imagery to bring these creatures to life, Saxon relies on puppetry and costumes to bring these creatures to life. The older Ochis are portrayed by smaller actors in suits that allow Saxon to capture a life-like fluidity to the Ochis movements; while the Baby Ochi that Yuri befriends is almost exclusively brought to life through puppetry. With the exception of stunt shots where CGI is required to bring the Ochis to life, the only visual effects at play in the film is the removal of puppeteers from shots. It results in an adorable creation of this mythical creature, giving Baby Ochi a playfulness and intimate connection with Yuri as Helena Zengel is able to interact with the puppet on set and form a bond with this adorable creature which gives an authenticity to the entire film, even if Zengel’s performance struggles at time to capture the screen presence to lead the film. Viewers are going to instantly fall in love with Baby Ochi as a result, because he is easily one of the cutest creatures that has become the star of the big screen, joining the ranks of other beloved characters brought to life by puppetry and special effects such as E.T., the Muppets, and Yoda that have stolen the hearts of audiences. Move aside Grogu, audiences' new adorable obsession has arrived in the form of Baby Ochi and I for one cannot wait to buy the overpriced stuffed animal that is destined to be released on the A24 shop.
Saxon has created a wondrous fantasy inspired world for the film to inhabit, with influences from the rural towns of the Soviet Union to create a playground for the story to unfold in. Using real life locations in Romania to capture the ancient forests and mighty mountains of the story, that when combined with magical lighting decisions, brings a truly magical feeling to the film. It feels very Studio Ghibli-esque at times thanks to the visual feel, and I truly wish Saxon spent more time developing the lore of the world to match its visuals, as there was a magnificent world to be lost in but viewers never got the world building to take the plunge with. Complementing the film’s visuals is the outstanding musical score from David Longstreth, marking the first truly notable score of the year. Within his melodies, Longstreth captures the wonder of Yuri’s adventure and her friendship with Baby Ochi with a playful melody, aided by the wonderful pan flute solos that captures a mythical and ancient nature to the music, calling back to The Legend of Zelda video games. It’s a tremendous effort from Longstreth, both working with large orchestral arrangements to capture the scale of Saxon’s vision as well as stripped back orchestrations to get to the beauty of the friendship at the heart of the film, promising an exciting composition career ahead for Longstreth.
Where the film stumbles is in the narrative department. There is no issue with a straightforward story about a young child embarking on an adventure to bring the titular adorable creature back to its people, but there are too many sub-stories at play. With Willem Dafoe’s Maxim leading a pack of the village’s children to not only locate Yuri but to fight off and kill the Ochi in the forest outside their village, Finn Wolfhard’s Petro whose storyline to remove himself from his adoptive father’s shadow, and Emily Watson’s Dasha return to her daughter and husband’s life, there are too many narrative ideas being juggled that causes each individual storyline to not get the dedicated development they deserve. This plays into making the performances of Wolfhard, Dafoe and Watson less impactful, though each of them does the best to create a character immersed in the world. The emphasis falls onto Yuri and Baby Ochi, the most important and emotionally engaging storyline of the film, and while the film’s final scene may leave questions in the minds of some viewers because everything comes together a little too cleanly given all the conflict leading to that moment, it is the heartfelt and beautiful conclusion to the story that viewers desire from such a tale, so it’s easy to forgive the film’s narrative shortcomings walking out of the theatre.
Harkening back to an era of family focused adventure cinema, The Legend of Ochi follows competently in the footsteps of some of cinema’s most beloved adventures to create a crowd pleasing experience. From awe inspiring visuals to build this captivating world that writer and director Isaiah Saxon has dreamed up, you can see the artistic DNA of A24 all throughout The Legend of Ochi and the studio’s celebration of artistic integrity above anything else, even if it is not a home-run on all fronts. With the dazzling visuals and magnificent musical score from David Longstreth fully immersing the audience in the world of the film, get ready to fall in love with Baby Ochi on this heartwarming and beautiful quest in The Legend of Ochi which is a terrific first family film from A24, even if it could have been further developed and refined narratively to create a masterful family adventure to rivals the greats of 'E.T. The Extra Terrestrial' and 'The Goonies'.