The not-so Legendary Ochi: sensorially stunning, but little else.

Have you ever been to an all-ages showing of something? I was incredibly skeptical, but for some reason The Legend of Ochi was only playing at like three theatres in all of NYC, so one does what they have to.

Picture me this: it's 4:00pm on a Monday, and there are five of us in the theatre. There's a lady who looks permanently stuck in 2010s hipster aesthetic, the thick glasses and skinny jeans of it all, a nanny who looks like she could've walked off the set of any 90s/2000s teen movie, with a cropped pink hoodie and baby blue hoops with the two children under five in her care, and me. University student killing time between finals and grad, sat in the back row, with my butterless popcorn and ginger beer. While I may have watched The Legend of Ochi with ambient child babble in the background, I still have strong thoughts.

I want to start by saying that I'm not sure if The Legend of Ochi is for children. Like yeah, it's a story about kids, but I felt like it lacked what actually draws kids into a movie. The plot is simple, the characters relatable, sure, and it's visually appealing as hell. It has a positive ending and centres on the importance of family, but I'm not convinced. I wanted to like this more so badly!

For those unfamiliar with the plot, it's a fantasy-adventure type movie about a girl named Yuri, who lives in a super-small town on a remote island, and her relationship with a Carpathian mountain-dwelling animal which are called Ochi. It's starring Helena Zengel, Finn Wolfhard, Willem Dafoe, and Emily Watson. It cloks in at just over ninety minutes, and is one of A24s newest releases.

Firstly, I want to champion and give kudos to the sensory experience of the movie. There's an extensive use of practical effects, and the puppetry to make the Ochi come to life is just so good. Apparently, over two hundred matte paintings were created and added to some of the shots, mainly to adjust the weather. Director Isaiah Saxon is actually such an amazing painter. I'm wholly impressed. They also shot on lenses from the 1930s to achieve the soft, mystical quality of Carpathia. You can tell it's a movie-lovers' movie. The wardrobe and interior decoration was amazing, each character and environment was well-defined. Special shoutout to the crazy blush placement a lot of the characters have, I guess to reflect the exposure to the elements they have on the island. Loved it. Blush-blindness who?

Similarly, I loved the audio, both score and foley. It expresses the importance of music as a theme in the movie, and you can get swept away in the soundtrack. The foley and audio mixing was so good—since it takes place in the wilderness, there's lots of boots crunching and things rustling in the forest. But, that being said, I don't know how memorable the soundtrack would be for kids, which I feel like is important. I need a fun little song to sing along to. I don't know if a kid would request this soundtrack in the car, you know? Definitely seems to me like something adults would appreciate more for the nostalgia factor. It's oh so beautiful, a visual treat if there ever was one, but I hate to say it, this could have been an awesome photo series. Like a Gregory Crewdson sort of cinematic vibe. Kinda. I'm sorry!!!!!!!!

I think it's partly due to the fact that Saxon's background is in music video, which he does well, and his approach to world-building is firmly based in the environment, relying on how the world feels to convey things, over dialogue, I suppose. Also, side note, why was Finn Wolfhard still American-sounding? I needed some unity on the accents in this one. And last side note, WHY ARE WE NORMALIZING KIDS WITH GUNS. I don't care that it's Willem Dafoe leading them around to capture a blue and orange creature that is basically just a zhuzhed up snub-nosed monkey, it makes my skin crawl.

While watching The Legend of Ochi, I couldn't help but be reminded of many other movies that I've watched. So, without further ado, a list of things that The Legend of Ochi reminded me of that already exist and I already love:

1. The Jim Henson of it all. A little impossible to escape. But it brought to mind great 80s family movies like Gremlins, Willow, and Labyrinth. In a more mysterious way, though.

2. Riddle of Fire. Weston Razooli's 2023 movie drew some parallels. It's another woodland adventure kids movie type of thing with mysticism and lore like that. Unique visual style, oddball characters, and a killer soundtrack which borrows more tracks than it has original.

3. Ponyo—particularly, and bear with me, the trilling sound the Ochi makes instantly made me think of Ponyo spitting water at Sosuke. moreover, I think Studio Ghibli does the job right of toeing the line between appealing to both children and adults. My enjoyment of Miyazaki's movies has never wavered, but the things I love about them certainly has as I've aged. I don't think I could say the same with The Legend of Ochi.

4. Moonrise Kingdom. My ride-or-die. Same same as my thinking for Riddle of Fire. Kids, island, running into the wilderness. Artful shots, duh, and oddball characters yet again.

5. Wild card. Caroline Polacheck's So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings music video. Just in the way that the background is constructed, the lighting, and how it's shot.

6. The Lord of The Rings—I know they weren't the first to do a beautiful landscape overhead shot, but they're the most iconic. Nobody does people crossing a mountain range like they do. Soundtrack and costuming was kind of bringing me there too.

7. Paddington 3. At this point, I am humouring myself a little. But the trope of finding a paradise/family hidden in a mountain… and it's lush green… I'm drawing those parallels! Not that the idea is exclusive to Paddington's universe.

Overall, I wasn't completely sold. It's conceptually gorgeous, but ultimately falls flat. A lot of the tropes are available in other pieces of media I was already into. If you've read this far and also watched it, I would be curious to know what you think!