The Legend of Ochi

Grade: C+

I can’t have been the only one who had been mixing up, or mentally combining The Legend of Ochi with Death of a Unicorn, out earlier this year. They are both A24 movies with 4-word titles, about a fictional creature. Both feature a couple of aging pros who have been in the business a long time (Paul Rudd and Téa Leoni in one – Emily Watson and Willem Dafoe in the other) opposite a hot rising star born post-Y2K (Jenna Ortega in one – Finn Wolfhard in the other). I’ve now seen both. I liked The Legend of Ochi better than DOAU, but not by much.

On the island of Carpathia, the children are taught never to go outside after dark, and to fear a species of creature known as the Ochi. Maxim (Dafoe) leads the kids in Ochi hunting sessions. One day, a pre-teen girl named Yuri helps a cute young Ochi out of a bear trap, and a friendship of the “imprinting” kind begins to form. When she is bitten in the arm by one, she is able to understand their language. This leads to a bit of dialogue that I did find funny.

Yuri: Snail!

Ochi: Try it.

Yuri: Caterpillar!

Ochi: Try it.

Yuri: (picks her nose) Booger!

Ochi: Try it.

The Ochi (pronounced “OH-chee”) that Yuri befriends is small and furry, with ears that stick out like Yoda’s. It looks like Gizmo from Gremlins stuck his face inside a can of blue paint. Almost everything looks like a set, and the colors, likely intended to add whimsy, just appear jarringly unnatural. I don’t like being dirty or messy, and the frequent scenes of people wading and sometimes swimming through mud in heavy raincoats/sweatshirts definitely triggered my sensory issues. The score, with all its pennywhistles/flutes/piccolos/etc, sounds like background music for one of those tangential “here’s how something is made” videos you’d see in an episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

It somewhat comes together for a touching ending, which also manages to satisfactorily utilize the sets, lighting, and practical effects. This is, finally, the best look we get at the Ochi species in all its glory. However, I was still left with apathy. It’s too much like an obscure, forgotten about children’s fantasy book for my taste. The Legend of Ochi is better than Death of a Unicorn, but that’s a bit like determining which turd has a more pleasing smell.

Grade: C+