‘The Legend Of Ochi’: Sundance Review

Dir/scr: Isaiah Saxon. US. 2024. 95mins 

A simplistic but affecting fable, The Legend Of Ochi luxuriates in its old-fashioned approach to live-action fantasy filmmaking, incorporating matte paintings and puppetry to tell the story of a teenager who befriends a rare, supposedly dangerous animal, at last finding a like-minded spirit. Music-video director Isaiah Saxon’s feature debut sometimes wobbles when balancing its impish sense of humour with darker tone, but ultimately, the picture’s peculiarity becomes part of its charm — as difficult to resist as that adorable titular critter.

The picture’s peculiarity becomes part of its charm

Suitably programmed as part of Sundance’s Family Matinee section, the film is set for a UK release in March before opening in the US in April. Supporting players Emily Watson and Willem Dafoe will help lift The Legend Of Ochi’s profile, but there is no denying the picture’s proudly strange, anti-mainstream sensibility. As a result, crossover theatrical success could be a challenge, although the betting is that artistically-minded young viewers will latch onto Saxon’s bighearted whimsy. 

On the remote Black Sea island of Carpathia, Yuri (Helena Zengel) and her impressionable adopted brother Petro (an underused Finn Wolfhard) are warned by her warlike father Maxim (Dafoe) that they must be forever on high alert for the presence of the Ochi, an exotic primate breed that threatens their safety. But after Yuri meets an injured baby Ochi in the forest, she decides these creatures are not as bloodthirsty as her dad warned, and decides to take the baby back to its home.

Saxon, who has directed videos for musicians such as Bjork and Panda Bear, lends this adventure a handmade, artisanal quality. David Longstreth’s score, which incorporates flutes and strings, means to conjure up memories of bygone fantasy family films, while Evan Prosofsky’s cinematography, with its emphasis on eerie fog and simmering sunlight, gives the Romanian locales the feel of a mystical realm cut off from the real world. Although CG is utilised, practical effects dominate, and Saxon works with puppeteers to bring the Ochi to life. The creature design is especially inviting, and the Ochi’s fuzzy orange fur, powder-blue faces and expressive dark eyes are instantly striking. 

Those with fond memories of 1980s-era live-action fantasy pictures — not to mention E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial’s heartwarming bond between Elliott and the alien — will be susceptible to Saxon’s nostalgic strategy. Sick of the aggressively masculine world in which she finds herself — and longing for her mother Dasha (Watson), who fled her husband Maxim long ago — Yuri sees in this little Ochi not an enemy but a fellow misfit. Adults and probably even children will be able to predict this moral of this quest narrative, but the endearing rapport between Zengel and the creature makes the lesson go down easy.

With Saxon adding to the fairytale quality by combining matte paintings with artful special effects, The Legend Of Ochi is transporting and earnest, but also occasionally wryly amusing. The soft-spoken Yuri is partial to death metal, while Maxim enjoys dressing up in cartoonish armour when he summons Petro and his legion of boy soldiers to track down his daughter and kill the Ochi. The tone can veer between quirky and sinister, and Saxon’s screenplay is at its weakest when he tries for slapstick humour. 

Dafoe nails his role as a cheekily over-the-top villain, playing Maxim more as a loud buffoon than as a truly menacing figure. Likewise, Watson is all maternal warmth and gentle grace as Yuri’s long-lost mother. But much of The Legend Of Ochi rests on Zengel’s shoulders — or, more accurately, her calm, timeless countenance. Probably best known for the 2020 Western News Of The World, the actress radiates a stillness and composure that suggest the lonely, resourceful Yani is wise beyond her years — and happier to throw her lot in with the misunderstood Ochi rather than further tolerating her father’s blustering intolerance.