Directed By Isaiah Saxon

Starring – Helena Zengel, Willem Dafoe, Emily Watson

The Plot – A young girl named Yuri (Zengel) is raised to fear the reclusive forest creatures known as the ochi. However, when she discovers a baby ochi left behind by its pack, she embarks on a perilous journey to reunite the creature with its family. As Yuri ventures deeper into the forest, she faces dangerous challenges and learns valuable lessons about courage, friendship, and the importance of protecting nature

Rated PG for violent content, a bloody image, smoking, thematic elements and some adult language

The Legend of Ochi | Official Trailer HD | A24

POSITIVES

A24 continues to travel to the deepest excesses of the imaginative subconscious, this time while unearthing the kind of Amblin Films content, like “E.T: The Extra Terrestrial” and “Gremlins”, which so many audiences grew up adoring. Like this previous films, this one also looks and feels like it could’ve been produced in the 80’s, both in the visual aesthetics, which prosper a wondrously transfixing beauty that at times felt hypnotic to my interpretation, as well as the atmospheric personality, where anything feels possible when the connection of human and animal prospers the limitless personalities to the established setting. On the visuals, Evan Prosofsky really pitches a perfect game here with the entrancement factors of the photography, with these documentarian levels of framing to the breathtaking overhanging fog of mountainsides and lustrous greens of the surrounding forests that simultaneously articulate the isolation factors and beauty of what continuously hangs in the balance of this established conflict, and when combined with meticulousness of the movie’s weathered colored grading really gives off that authentic allure of timelessness that made this such an immersive journey of escapism that can occasionally make it feel otherworldly. On top of this, the movie has some of the best production designs that I have seen thus far in 2025, with European sheik inside of color splashed supermarkets and claustrophobic homely confines, that, when married with the slick camera motions and direct centered framing of characters and objects in focus, occasionally gave off the impression that this was a Wes Anderson movie, where the bizarreness of the visuals and execution of Saxon’s direction subscribes to the inescapable notion of audience laughing during some tensely confrontational sequences. It never feels tonally disjointed between any two contradicting scenes eliciting moments that don’t feel like they belong under the same creative roof, but rather expressive in ways that feel abstract to any audience’s interpretation, and I found those comedically charming moments of open-ended vulnerability to compliment those sequences of awestruck wonder accordingly, making it all the easier to fall in love with the titular creatures, who themselves are impressively manufactured with animatronic effects and string motions that effortlessly inscribe tangible weight and influence to the scenes that call upon them. What’s most impressive about their respective designs, aside from the cutesy cuddly essence of their designs that you can’t help but groan favorably towards, is that no two of the Ochi creatures look noticeably alike in the repetition of their facial constructs, and when combined with a uniqueness for sound design in their language of interactions with one another, which grounds them in an earthly innocence that ultimately keeps them from being too threatening for youthful audiences, conjures an infectiously charming set of designs that will undoubtedly steal your heart, with these boldly eye deposits that empathize the insufferable agony that man continuously puts them through in their quest for dominance. Speaking of that established conflict, the script definitely has a litany of problems that I will get to later, but the one thing that it does succeed at is in the time-honored notion of barbaric violence and bloodshed begetting more barbaric violence and bloodshed to the next generation we raise, and while those moments of growth between Yuri and this baby ochi were sweetly satisfying and endearing to the idea that territorial sanctity creates a better environment for all, it was those moments of onslaught that go a long way in conveying man at its most viscerally unforgiving, making it none the easier to experience the ochi dealing with what many of the grueling tortures that we put our own innocent creatures through. Lastly on the beneficial side of the movie’s aspects, the performances here from Helena Zengel, Emily Watson, and especially Willem Dafoe cement a lot of captivating legitimacy to their respective characters, even when the one-dimensional characterization does none of them favors towards expanding their boldly impeccable acting. In her first lead role, 16-year-old Zengel brings forth emotional dexterity and physical resiliency that are decades ahead of her opportunistic inexperience, with her initially animalistic level of suppressed interaction eventually giving way to a nourishing relationship with her newfound furry friend. Watson’s commitment to craft emits the worn and weathered aftershock of love’s instability, even with a limited screen time, but it’s ultimately Dafoe who once again captivates the audience with a strangely surreal demeanor towards emphasized dialogue that feels like they took Willem off of the stage of a Shakespearian play, complete with angsty remorselessness and determination that outlines crude carelessness of man’s incessant need to dominate, giving him a character who is at times detestable, but one that Dafoe revels in the confines to make stand out three-dimensionally.

NEGATIVES

While there’s so much about “The Legend of Ochi” that nearly made this an instant classic, it is unfortunately the pushback from an uncompelling script that continuously made for such an overwhelming hurdle to the movie’s favor, with surface level exploration in characters and the titular legend itself, which seemingly didn’t even scratch the surface of the movie’s endless possibilities. To be fair, the Ochi are focused on a bit more with the characters, but their legends summarized in a duo of exposition dumps early and midway through the film was proceeds what we’re actually given in execution, proving the dull and uninteresting side of legend whose ending doesn’t rise to the occasion of those previous Amblin films that I mentioned, with a resolution that makes the film feel a bit superfluous, as a result of such a simple and unharming compromise that robs the film of its confrontational momentum during the third act. As for the characters, there’s nobody here, even Yuri, who I found fleshed out in ways that compelled endearment and investment to their respective arcs, forcing actors like the aforementioned Dafoe to overzealously emphasize his various deliveries, in order to offer anything of distinguishment between characters who can easily be summarized in a single sentence, the most of which actually are. In addition to this, I found the accents and sound designs to compromisingly clash with one another, leading some of my interpretations to these character conversations to lack the kind of distinguishing clarity that allowed me to effortlessly follow along. For my money, I would’ve much rather watched this movie with subtitles, as Yuri’s various deliveries, particularly during the opening act, are marred by mumbling that made it a chore to make out what she was saying, and while I watched this film in a low-grade theater auditorium with not exactly the best kind of sound, the lack of vocalized annunciating never pertained to Dafoe or Watson’s various deliveries, instead remaining alongside Zengel, which is a bit unfortunate considering she’s the established protagonist that a majority of this film’s focus follows alongside. Finally, I previously praised the trio of performances between Zengel, Dafoe and Watson, but it’s Finn Wolfhard who sadly draws the short end of the stick, in a thankless role that doesn’t even remotely develop his character, or give him a periodic opportunity to galvanize why this role meant so much for him to attain. Considering Wolfhard continuously displays ample personality and radiant charisma inside of roles like “Stephen King’s It”, “Ghostbusters Afterlife”, and even this year’s co-directed “Hell of a Summer”, his suppressed demeanor here in a role that I frequently forgot was a part of this movie, is downright unforgiveable, and though there’s certainly the possibility that the bulk of his direction and material were left on the production’s cutting room floor, the script’s desire to leave in an internalized conflict within him toeing the line between father and daughter only magnifies this complete lack of pursual within his character’s established backstory, cementing a role that quite literally anyone could’ve attempted, let alone one of the passionate fresh faces of the next generation of movie stars.

OVERALL
“The Legend of Ochi” does effortlessly and artistically subscribe to the suppressed place in the psychological nostalgia of its audience that left 80’s adventure flicks behind with springing adolescence, but beyond that articulates the unnecessary ages-old conflict between man and species that often materializes from misinformation and blood-hungry brutality between passed-down generations. While the film is very entertaining and charming between energized performances and its breathtaking production unlocking the beauty and devastation of nature’s gift, it’s undercut by a surface level script and incoherent dialogue within the movie’s inconsistent sound design that conflicts ones complete investment to the picture, outlining another immersive escapism success for A24, but not one that is anywhere close to the top tier quality that we expect from the world’s most artistically experiencing studio.

My Grade: 6.8 or C+