The Legend of Ochi 2025
The Legend of Ochi is a 2025 American fantasy adventure film, marking the feature film debut of writer and director Isaiah Saxon. Produced by A24, the movie stars Helena Zengel as Yuri, along with Finn Wolfhard (Petro), Emily Watson (Dasha), and Willem Dafoe (Maxim). Set in a remote village on the fictional Black Sea island of Carpathia, the story follows Yuri, a shy farm girl raised to fear the reclusive, primate-like creatures known as the Ochi, which her fanatical hunter father, Maxim, leads parties to hunt. The plot kicks off when Yuri discovers a wounded baby Ochi, frees it from a trap, and tends to its injuries in secret. Realizing the creature is sapient, not the monster she was taught to believe, she embarks on a dangerous quest to return the baby Ochi to its family, a journey that sees her discover an ability to understand and speak the Ochi's language. Her adventure is fraught with peril as she evades Maxim and his hunting party. The film utilizes a blend of puppetry, animatronics, and computer animation to bring the Ochi creatures and the world to life, giving it a nostalgic feel reminiscent of 1980s adventure films like The Dark Crystal. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2025, followed by a limited theatrical release on April 18, 2025, and a wide release in the United States on April 25, 2025.
- English (Canada)
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2025-04-22 17:13:10
The Legend of Ochi is a very ambitious project for someone to tackle as their directorial debut and I give praise to Isiah Saxon for really going for it. The world building here is pretty solid for the most part and the movie starts off with a strong setup and some good action. The main Ochi creature himself is very endearing and his connection with the young girl is very sweet. The fact that the creatures are practical is awesome. The movie has some funny moments especially the scenes with Willem Dafoe and that main duo. However the movie loses the plot a little bit in the second half. Character actions feel like they're forced in order for the plot to continue and some of the pay off feels cheap. The movie's ending feels a little cliche and because of that I feel like this movie is going to have a hard time really engaging general audiences. Overall it's an entertaining enough movie and I love that Saxon got to express his creative vision, but some more fleshing out of the world and characters could've helped.