SUNDANCE: ‘The Legend of Ochi’ Conjures Up Genuine Magic

Coming-of-age stories and cute monsters are a tried and true combination. Following in a lineage of classics ranging from the likes of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial to several works from Studio Ghibli, writer-director Isaiah Saxon’s The Legend of Ochi (2025) puts its own spin on a classic dynamic. Lovingly conceived from top to bottom, The Legend of Ochi stands out due to an open heart and trust in its young audience to handle an emotional, spooky narrative, ultimately conjuring up cinematic magic in the process.

All corners of The Legend of Ochi are vividly developed, beginning with its very concept. In a fictional island near the Black Sea, there exists a society somewhere between modern civilization and the remnants of an older world. On this island, Isaiah Saxon and his team have developed a whole culture. This extends across superficial details like a secondary language that is spoken by inhabitants and used in their pop culture. Costume designer Elizabeth Warn gives the island a lived-in feel with costumes that indicate a rich history that extends beyond the 96-minute runtime.

The real meat of the world-building is in the lore of the Ochi themselves. A monkey-like species who come out at night, retreating to the forest otherwise, the ochi are hunted by community leader Maxim (Willem Defoe) and a band of young children, including his adopted son Petro (Finn Wolfhard) and his daughter Yuri (Helena Zengel). When Yuri finds a baby ochi, she finds herself with a special connection to it. Disobeying her father’s warnings, she sets off with the ochi in order to find its parents.

The creature design is superb in The Legend of Ochi. 

Getting the central critter right is essential in a film like The Legend of Ochi. Fear not, the baby ochi is adorable. A marvel of puppetry requiring seven different operators, the ochi’s blue little face, big ears, thick brownish fur, and expressive black eyes beg the audience not to let an “aw.” His movements are so seamless that he blows other recent attempts at a similar creature, like The Mandalorian’s Grogu, out of the water.

Critically, our ochi is allowed to be a little rascal. He bites, he screams, he skitters all over the place; it’s this unwieldiness that makes him endearing. Still, the ochi creatures, in general, have another point in the cute category due to their call, a strange whistle-song that combines several noises into a beautiful coo.

The sound design team seems to know that this call, which Yuri learns she can do as well, is key to Yuri and this ochi’s bond, continually introducing new variations of an otherworldly majesty. As for Yuri herself, Helena Zengel puts on a subtle performance that avoids the pitfalls of flat child actor performances. She doesn’t simply say the lines given to her by Saxon. With each intonation, she tells the audience what we need to know about her character: she’s a capable, protective, curious young woman taking ownership of her life. The adventure Yuri and her ochi embark on feels like it’s pulled from a child’s wildest dreams.

Naturally a lot of the credit goes to The Legend of Ochi‘s impeccable visuals. Director of photography Evan Prosofsky makes uncanny landscapes out of the animators, matte painters, and a variety of other artist’s work. The foggy mountains and rolling green forest hills bathed in light speak in images of adventure in a way that the wooden hut and craggy road-filled world of adults that Yuri runs from don’t. Furthermore, Isaiah Saxon’s story goes beyond the connection between a girl and a creature separated from their families.

Writer and director Isaiah Saxon delivers heartfelt whimsy. 

Like the great films The Legend of Ochi descends from, Isaiah Saxon trusts in his audience of children and adults alike. Yuri’s journey is perilous, and externally, she deals with situations such as the ochi’s bite swelling up her arm with a strange rash. Internally, Yuri fights with being misunderstood. Willem Defoe brings a certain amount of imperfect humanity to Maxim. He’s a man who has grown so protective over those that he loved that he’s shut himself out to the idea that nature is more than danger. His attempts to shield his children have shut him out from them.

Unfortunately, this character trait is only really fully explored through the lens of Yuri, as Wolfhard’s Petro doesn’t get much development other than pouting. There are lines that indicate more to his feelings, which leaves a sense of missed opportunity. A late-in-the-game Emily Watson, though, is a secret MVP of The Legend of Ochi, her appearance soldifying a motif of abandonment that comes to a head in an ending that’s sure to draw tears from adults and children alike for entirely different reasons.

The Legend of Ochi doesn’t reinvent the wheel, nor does it have to. It’s precisely what it needs to be — a heartfelt iteration of a classic narrative told in a lovingly handmade fashion. Writer-director Isaiah Saxon connects with whimsy in a way few children’s films do nowadays, as well as the dark shadow behind that whimsy.

It’s almost puzzling that this film is produced by Joe and Anthony Russo, responsible for the last two Avengers films because The Legend of Ochi is such a “they don’t make them like this anymore” type film that it stands in stark contrast to a lot of modern storytelling. A fantastic addition to the A24 stable, this film proves that leading with earnestness and a mastery of craft will result in something gorgeous in visuals and soul.

The Legend of Ochi (2025) premiered as a part of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.