The Legend of Ochi Movie Review

“The Legend of Ochi” is an incredibly innovative kind of movie with wonderful scenic views of a strange land filled with people and creatures. The creatures are the misunderstood Ochi, and these beasts are feared and hunted. But one young girl wishes to reunite a lost, lonely Ochi baby back to its family.

There is an island in the Black Sea called Carpathia. Isolated villages and farms dot the small island. It seems to be a ragged remnant of a much earlier time. The farmers and sheep tenders are always on the lookout for an unpredictable presence called the ‘Ochi’. This creature is a hold-over from more primitive and superstitious time.

On a farm lives an older man named Maxim (played by Willem Dafoe). He is the leader of a semi-military, yet young and rag-tag, group of hunters. He leads this group that consists of mostly teenagers. He is on a relentless hunt for the Ochi – since this fierce monster can come down from the mountain at any time. These pack animals can devastate livestock and break into pens and stables.

Maxim has an adopted son named Petro (played by Finn Wolfhard). He was left abandoned after his parents were driven away by the Ochi. He is the oldest of the young group of hunters under the lead of Maxim. He tries to be a leader, but he does not think he has what it takes

Maxim has one daughter, named Yuri (played by Helena Zengel). She has a deep mistrust of Maxim and his hateful ways against the Ochi. She has a general love for all of animals around the island. She is able to get close to birds and has pet caterpillars. She does not see any reason to go out and kill any other animals.

Yuri is very sad at missing her mother. Maxim had fierce arguments with his wife Dasha played by Emily Watson) and he had drove her away years ago. Dasha was very in-tune with nature and with all living creatures. She spent trying to find out more about the Ochi. If she could figure out the language they used, she would be able to communicate.

All that Dasha knows is the Ochi use musical sounds and tones to ‘talk’ to one another. She has studied the language as she knows about it. She was able to mimic some of the sounds on a special flute she had designed. Yuri remembers some of the wondrous tunes that her mother would play, not knowing that the origins were from the same ‘monsters’ that her father Maxim goes out to fight every night.

One night, Maxim has a ‘hunting party’ go out in the low hills to find some of the horrible creatures. But there is a very young baby Ochi who has been separated from his mother. The baby is never named — so let’s just call him “OJ” (Ochi Junior). Oj gets caught in a trap set by Maxim and the hunting group.

Yuri had also been with this hunting party, and she find the very young Ochi called OJ. There is a trap on his leg, and it has hurt him. She is able to remove the trap. She gains enough trust that she is able bandage his sore leg. She takes little OJ home and hides him in her room.

Yuri leaves home with the little baby Ochi, and her adopted brother, Petro, sees her leave. She is determined to bring little OJ back to the mountains so he can be with his family. This goes against everything that Maxim stands for. That is another reason that Yuri wants to do this.

Yuri and OJ walk quite a way and get hungry. She sneaks little OJ into a small grocery store to get food. But that causes a ruckus, and in the excitement of the chase out of the store, little OJ bites Yuri on the arm. He didn’t mean to, but he was scared.

Yuri becomes a very poor car thief, when a car she steals doesn’t have the lug nuts on a tire fully tightened. Not that far away, the car breaks down, and they are on foot again. They walk through a swamp, and she learns that the bite from OJ allows her to understand his musical language.

Yuri does not notice there is another trap, and she falls in. Little OJ is scared again and goes to hide in the trees. Of all people that could find her, it is her mother – Dasha. Dasha has a house up in the hills and tends a flock of sheep.

Dasha has spent all of her days away from Maxim working to learn more about the Ochi. She has documented all she can about the musical tones and sounds she hears in the distant mountains. Dasha has a way to heal Yuri’s arm. Yuri decides to leave again and try and find little baby OJ – because she still wants to bring him back home.

Petro has told Maxim what Yuri has done, and he is ready to go on the warpath against the Ochi. He wants to wipe out these vile creatures. He gets his special suit of ‘armor’ that he has hidden away. Now he can lead like a true Carpathian soldier.

It is race now between Yuri, who now has baby OJ once again, and the Maxim troops of teenage recruits. There is also Dasha, who bring her secret weapon — her flute with which she might be able to communicate with the Ochi creatures. They all head into the highest peaks and into a cave.

Will the Ochi community reject the little baby OJ? Will the murderous rage of Maxim bring about the end of the Ochi group? Can Yuri show her compassion to little OJ and make sure that he can get back to the place where he belongs? Will Dasha be able to try and bring some peace to the angry Maxim and the Ochi elders?

“The Legend of Ochi” is a marvel to watch as the mysterious creatures called the ‘Ochi’ are presented as real as the people in the movie. All the work to create and display the the furry, almost ape-like Ochi is does with practical effects. They are done using puppets and animatronics, nothing that uses as CGI computer effects.

The overall story is a sweet telling of the goodness of young girl Yuri. She is played with a lot of heart and emotion (by Helena Zengel). She makes a very convincing argument that her motives are true and pure of heart.

Willem Dafoe plays Maxim as a man with a heavy strict force-of-nature spirit. Maxim believes that the villagers are always at risk of death if the Ochi are not eliminated. He is not motivated by hate, but out of fear of losing some of his honor.

The sets and scenery are very realistic and look marvelous. But the most impressive techniques are how the Ochi are portrayed. The overall designs of the Ochi are well done, and the ideas using the musical type system to communicate is a clever idea. Little ‘Baby Yoda’ might have some new tough competition!

“The Legend of Ochi” tells a sweet story of a young girl who wants to reunite a precious little ape-like baby ‘Ochi’ back with his family. It’s a legend worth seeing…