The Legend of Ochi (2025) is written & directed by Isaiah Saxon. It stars Helena Zengel, Willem Dafoe, Finn Wolfhard, Emily Watson, Razvan Stoica, Carol Bors, Andrei Antoniu Anghel, David Andrei Baltatu, Eduard Mihail Oancea, Tomas Otto Ghela, and Paul Manalatos. The film follows Yuri (Zengel), a quiet young girl living on the island of Carpathia with her brother, Petro (Wolfhard), and their father, Maxim (Dafoe). For generations, their village has been at war with the Ochi, a native race of intelligent, mythical creatures. After Maxim leads a successful ambush, Yuri finds an infant Ochi who was injured as a result. Fed up with her father’s many secrets about the conflict between the two species, Yuri flees her isolated home in an attempt to reunite the lost Ochi with its family. With Maxim and Petro hot on her trail, Yuri eventually finds help from Dasha (Watson), a mysterious and resourceful woman with connections to her past. Will Yuri’s act of goodwill finally foster peace between the two species, or will it only exacerbate the current bad blood?

The film has a very specific, strange tone that is often a mishmash of classic fantasy, children’s fantasy, monster movies, buddy comedies, familial dramas, and medieval Eastern European folklore. Saxon’s balance of these various flavors is exceptional, but it requires the cast to give performances that are equally specific and strange. Thankfully, everyone is exceptionally cast, their real-life auras feeling like natural fits. For example, Willem Dafoe just does his typical over-the-top, crazy guy schtick, which works well in such a zany film. 

Finn Wolfhard has defined his early career playing characters like Petro, an angsty male teenager struggling to come to terms with his impending journey into adulthood. Nothing about the role is new, but Wolfhard nails the character’s emotional moments in a way I’ve never seen from him up to this point in his career. It’s clear that his skills as an actor are developing; He just needs some more adult-oriented/mature roles. 

Helena Zengel gives a strong performance as Yuri, but the character is handcuffed by the fact that she doesn’t receive many opportunities to talk. Her strong moral compass is admirable, but that’s about it. She’s upset with her parents because they keep things from her, but nothing about that kind of angst is particularly unique. In other words, there’s nothing exceptional about her. Sure, she’s a little strange because of her upbringing, but so is everyone from Carpathia. 

This wooden characterization also applies to Emily Watson as Dasha, Yuri’s estranged mother. Her personality is unremarkable, and her arc is both unoriginal and predictable. Not to mention, the film ends in a way that fails to provide the character with any kind of resolution. She has a lot of shaky relationships with various members of her family, but we never get to see how they play out. An ending doesn’t necessarily need to answer everything, but it also shouldn’t leave you with any unintended questions. With this ending, I had questions. 

     Visually, the film is beautifully photographed, featuring countless otherworldly locations that look as if they’ve been ripped out of an illustrated children’s book. The puppeteer’s work on the Ochi is also impressive, providing them a lifelike edge even though they’re pretty clearly puppets. This is the perfect example of the idea that just because something doesn’t look “real,” that doesn’t mean it looks bad. It provides a throwback, tangible element to the effects, feeling like a nod to films such as E.T., Gremlins, and even The Princess Bride. It’s also smart to make the main Ochi an infant. This allows them to inject the film with a necessary cute factor without sacrificing the idea that the species is a threat to humankind.

Overall, this is a visually stunning, creatively risky, but ultimately familiar entry in the PG fantasy subgenre. That being said, it’s the kind of ‘familiar’ akin to the welcome return of an old, long-lost friend. It’s not something we haven’t seen before, but it is something we haven’t seen in a long time. Unfortunately, the film never does anything particularly memorable with its premise, which handcuffs its appeal. I think fans of franchises such as The Neverending Story will appreciate what this film has to offer, but everyone else will just see it as a tonally odd fever dream. C+