The Legend of Ochi (dir. Isaiah Saxon)

by Jack Martin | Aug 2, 2025

Certificate: 12A

Running Time: 95 mins

UK Distributor: Entertainment Film Distributors

UK Release Date: 1 August 2025

WHO’S IN THE LEGEND OF OCHI?

Helena Zengel, Finn Wolfhard, Emily Watson, Willem Dafoe, Razvan Stoica, Carol Bors, David Andrei Baltatu, Andrei Antoniu Anghel, Eduard Mihail Oancea, Tomas Otto Ghela, Eduard Ionut Cucu, Stefan Burlacu

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Isaiah Saxon (director, writer, producer), Traci Carlson, Richard Peete and Jonathan Wang (producers), David Longstreath (composer), Evan Prosofsky (cinematographer), Paul Rogers (editor)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

A young girl (Zengel) encounters a mysterious creature she’s been taught to fear…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON THE LEGEND OF OCHI?

A24’s reputation as a high-class distributor of prestigious cinema is well and truly established by this point, but every now and then there’s a dud or two to remind us that even the multi-Oscar-winning studio has a few chinks in its armour. Opus, from earlier this year, was certainly one, as were Y2K and the slight disappointment that was Death of a Unicorn, both also from the last twelve months.

But The Legend of Ochi, the feature debut of filmmaker Isaiah Saxon, is a particularly unique failure among A24’s library. It is unique in the sense that it is, aesthetically, quite beautifully made with a clear idea of what it’s trying to do, and yet very few if any of its high-quality ingredients rarely come together to make something that matches its noble ambition. This also makes it something of a heartbreaking failure, because Saxon is undoubtedly trying to evoke a type of film that isn’t made as much nowadays – at least, not with this level of craftsmanship – but for numerous reasons is unable to make it work the way that he wants it to.

The film is set on a remote island somewhere in Eastern Europe, during an unspecified period that appears to be stuck somewhere between the 70s and 80s (but then again, this is Eastern Europe, so for all we know this could still be taking place in 2025). On this island lives a mythical race of monkey-like creatures known as the Ochi, which a group of young hunters led by a man named Maxim (Willem Dafoe) – who is so dedicated to finding and killing every last one of the Ochi that he proudly dresses in full knight armour whenever he leads a hunt – terrorise at every available opportunity.

One day, Maxim’s daughter Yuri (Helena Zengel) comes across a baby Ochi that has been injured from a trap, and whilst nursing it back to health notices that the creatures do not seem as frightening or deadly as she had been taught to believe, and she sets out on a journey to reunite the baby with its family. Following close behind them is Maxim, convinced that the Ochi have kidnapped Yuri, and along with his son Petro (Finn Wolfhard) and his small army of hunters sets out to reclaim here, on a journey that brings them all into contact with Dasha (Emily Watson), Maxim’s estranged wife and mother to their children.

Yes, the plot is one that you’ve seen or heard dozens of times before, in films like E.T. or How to Train Your Dragon where a young outcast befriends and goes on an adventure with a similarly misunderstood supernatural creature. But that is not where the issue lies. It’s more to do with the fact that such a familiar story is executed with an oddly unengaging attitude that forces you to notice the familiarity even more, because it’s the only thing keeping you from being completely bored. Saxon appears to have little interest in making his characters interesting or even giving them an ounce of personality, especially young Yuri who despite being our lead has no defining traits other than just being the blandest possible stock kid protagonist in a movie like this, nor does he offer any compelling dialogue or dramatic beats that shake up the formula or present it from a fresh perspective. As a result, there is nothing to emotionally attach yourself to as the film plods along, leaving you unable to care about anything or anyone in a story that, as redundant as it is, has been proven to generate some kind of reaction in the past.

The only genuine reaction one has to The Legend of Ochi is the amount of awe that has admittedly gone into its production. This is a beautifully shot film, with cinematographer Evan Prosofsky making good use of the intentionally drab colour grading that gives it the look of something that was made forty or fifty years ago, with grand matte paintings creating striking backgrounds within this muted fantasy world. The practical effects used to create the baby Ochi itself, ranging from puppetry to animatronics, are impressive, to a point where at times you’ll be wondering how they were able to pull off certain stunts without going the traditional CGI route. That being said, you do notice the effect more than you do the character, as there isn’t really a moment where the creature feels truly alive or at the very least has any distinct personality, not enough to set itself apart from the likes of similar practically-made creatures like Yoda or Gizmo from Gremlins which, while never looking wholly real, made up for that by having a definable and lovable sense of identity that helped them transcend beyond mere effects.

You can tell that Saxon wanted to make the kind of dark and adventurous family film that he clearly grew up watching, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Unfortunately, The Legend of Ochi doesn’t stretch further than mere homage, for as stunningly made as it is the film lacks the heart and soul of its influences, without offering enough emotional investment of its own to win over audiences hoping for a new classic they can remember for years to come.

Again, it’s heartbreaking to see all this visual majesty go to waste on a film that offers little excitement or magic of its own, in a misfire that may not reach the lows of some of A24’s other failures but nonetheless emerges as something that is far from legendary.

SO, TO SUM UP…

The Legend of Ochi is an attempted homage of dark family fantasy adventures that, despite some stunning production values such as impressive if distracting practical effects, is emotionally and narratively redundant due to its lethargic execution of a familiar story as well as thinly defined characters who you neither know nor care enough about to attach yourself to.