The Legend of Ochi

This is one of those films that arrives quietly and softly nestles into your heart - The Legend of Ochi tells a tender coming-of-age story wrapped in myth and nature, where a young girl finds herself connected to a strange, mystical creature and makes the brave choice to protect it, even when it means letting go.

Among the group, Winny really vibed with the visual style - the colors, the misty forests, the soft lighting, and that ethereal world-building had him fully immersed. It's a beautiful film, no doubt, with that almost storybook kind of feel that lingers even after the credits roll.

Willow, on the other hand, saw the signs coming early - the whole "family sees creature, thinks it's dangerous, tries to stop it" arc. He called it from the beginning, and yeah, he wasn't wrong. Predictable? Kinda. But it still hit some nice emotional notes.

Mimikyu? Oh, she was all-in on the Ochi creature. Absolutely adored it. Said it was expressive, sweet, and honestly deserved protection at all costs. She even started shipping Ochi and the girl - not in a weird way, just that they clearly understood each other in a way no one else could. It's that soul connection stuff, and she was here for it.

Amy and Tails? Total Dad fans. Every time he popped up, they'd crack up. His moments added that quirky charm, grounding the movie with some warm, unexpected humor.

Sweet was drawn to the core concept - finding a rare or maybe even extinct creature and choosing to protect it instead of exploiting it. He felt like, yeah, it was predictable in parts, but the pacing and the way the story unfolded gave it its own rhythm. He liked how it didn't rush itself and let the bond between girl and creature breathe.

Altogether, this wasn't a perfect movie, but it was a sincere one. It gave off those quiet-but-deep kind of feels - like something you'd find in a tucked-away corner of childhood memory. Some might say it's a little rough around the edges, but that kind of adds to its charm.

Final Rating: 7/10.

Yuri, the daughter of the leader of a troop of child soldiers, lives on a small, remote island in the Black Sea inhabited by creatures called Ochi. Yuri feels that she is different than the others. When she finds a baby Ochi in a trap, she embarks on a journey to reunite the baby with its mother and finds herself on the way.

This movie is about adolescence and rebelling to become who you are meant to be. The story has potential, but there is limited backstory on the village, the people, the characters, the island, and the Ochi. The runtime of one hour and thirty-six minutes forces the story to get to the point quickly, but somehow, it still manages to create portions that make the movie drag. Fans of A24 might consider streaming it when available, but it could be skipped overall.

Helena Zengel, Germany's most beautiful *ahem* acting export, has once again been cast in an international production. As usual, she plays the role of the oddball, which is hardly surprising given her angelic features. In general, the cast is a who's who of ghost train characters, with the Ochis being the prettiest creatures here. Perhaps that's part of the message, but otherwise the film has really great visuals and a charming 80s vibe. Inevitably, 'E. T.' keeps popping into your head, even though the work is far removed from classic Hollywood. It's a bit of a symbiosis of Wes Anderson and Aki Kaurismäki, weird, whimsical, fairy-tale-like. Fairytale is actually a good description, and apart from a few awkward moments, it almost qualifies as a 'family film'. At the end, the kitsch club is even brought out, somewhat unexpectedly, in keeping with the context. All in all, it's definitely a special film that deserves to be discovered before this nice little side project is sucked into oblivion by the maelstrom of production glut.

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.

This film has atmosphere, I'll give it that. The previews had me excited to check it out; Willem DaFoe hunting ape monsters in a viking outfit? Sign me up! The production design is top notch, the strange lost in time setting of Carpathia is beautiful and haunting, and the creature design and execution is very well done.

The story, on the other hand, seems to be an afterthought. The dialogue is indistinct (figuratively and literally; oftentimes I had no idea what they were saying), and the characters really lacked any nuance or development. Quirky for the sake of quirkiness.

My main gripe, though, is that it mostly fails as a kids' movie. I normally love slow, atmospheric films, but this one moved like the tectonic plates that formed the mountains of Catpathia. I brought my 9-year old and he didn't hesitate to tell me how boring he found the film, and we left before it ended. There was very little humor, and most of the parts that seemed to be attempts at laughs fell completely flat.

I really wanted to like this film. I admire the dedication to practical effects, and the attention to feeling and atmosphere in the world building. Unfortunately, the lack of a compelling story or characters made this into a slog.