The Legend of Ochi

The Legend of Ochi, the debut film of longtime music video director Isaiah Saxon, actually ran locally at the tail-end of April. But, for a number of reasons, I decided to wait until its second run, which began on Friday, to check it out. Let’s see what I missed.

Over on the island of Carpathia, Maxim (Willem Dafoe) leads the local lads, and his daughter Yuri (Helena Zengel), on nightly hunts for the Ochi, the local cryptid monkeys. One day, Yuri encounters a baby Ochi, its foot ensnared in a trap. After she heals it, she decides to return the critter to its community. She’s pursued by Maxim and his Junior Hunters (including Finn Wolfhard as Maxim’s adopted son, Petro), and is dissuaded by her long-lost mother, Dasha (Emily Watson). Is any of that going to stop her?

Sure, the film stars a few humans, and all of them are fine, but they’re outclassed by the Ochi. These creatures are more Gizmo from Gremlins than the chupacabra in personality and design. In what must seem like a novelty these days, the Ochi were realized with puppetry and animatronics. Whatever CGI is used is mainly to erase the seven puppeteers controlling baby Ochi. The end result seems too good to be true - some erroneous reports stated AI was used on the film - but it is. It's even more outstanding when you discover that the Ochi's chirping voice was vocalized by a human, Paul "The Birdman" Manalatos. This helps make Ochi and Yuri's chemistry all the more compelling, especially when she learns how to chirp Ochi.

It does repeatedly trip on its own tone, though. It starts off perfectly grim as Maxim and his Junior Hunters attack the Ochi in a nighttime raid. Later on, it tugs at the heart strings as we see the ensnared baby Ochi. But then it gets a bit silly, such as Maxim dressing for his raids like a gladiator goalie, like it's a serious Wes Anderson film. A scene at a supermarket, which has a surprisingly thorough anti-Ochi protocol, ends with Yuri accidentally getting bitten. Yuri and Ochi escape the supermarket by stealing a car in the middle of a tire change (it ends as you might expect). Later on, we see the infected arm, and while it's excellent makeup work, it's also way gruesome. When Dasha enters, she implies that a certain bat is responsible for the livestock deaths attributed to the Ochi. But the film ends too abruptly for that and other points to register.

What else does it have? There's some vibrant scenery in Carpathia, visualized either through matte paintings or through location filming in Romania. A few memorable locations include the aforementioned supermarket, Dasha's hut and especially the Ochi's habitat. Overall, cinematographer Evan Prosofsky and production designer Jason Kisvarday are both worth a consideration for next year's Oscars. Their work is accentuated by David Longstreth's majestic score; just wait until you hear the opening theme. Not bad for a total price tag of $10 million.

The storytelling isn't perfect, but it's hard to doubt the appeal of The Legend of Ochi's titular creature. Whether it's in the technical craft, or the cuddliness, it's worth seeing the film just for the Ochi alone. Distributor A24 might have just found itself a new mascot, or at least a worthy competitor with Marcel the Shell. It's already on VOD, as well as theatres, so you've got quite a few ways to check it out. If you're not interested, I've got a few other options for the whole family. One of them is coming up next.