Films for Breakfast

Gremlins and Baby Yodas` beware, you have some competition – The species of Ochi are just about the cutest, literal “aw”-enducing creatures I’ve seen in quite sometime. Luckily for The Legend of Ochi, the feature-length debut film from director Isaiah Saxon, the film is as pleasant as the Ochi is cute. The film takes place in a remote village on the island of Carpathia where shy, farm girl Yuri (Helena Zengel) lives with her family. Her father, Maxim (Willem Dafoe) makes an effort to remind Yuri and the rest of the children in the village to beware of the Ochi creatures, and actively teaches them how to defend themselves incase they ever come in-contact with one.

However, when Yuri finds an injured baby Ochi stuck in a trap in the woods, she escapes on a quest to return him home to his family. Throughout this journey, the film delivers the somewhat-typical relationship you’d see in these Amblin-esque films, where the lead character bonds with the magical creature throughout the journey. And all of that is incredibly pleasant! Isaiah Saxon has a keen eye for delivering the light-hearted goods in a way that doesn’t feel overtly predictable or tired. The film keeps a good pace throughout and Helena Zengel delivers a solid performance as Yuri, with her chemistry with the titular Ochi being the true standout of the film.

However, what sets this apart from other films featuring adorable creatues needing to be returned to their home is its messaging. While there isn’t necessarily anything original here, it feels nice to see a family-friendly film that delivers a message about not accepting blind-hatred of things we don’t understand; the film asks us to seek compassion and understanding to even the tiniest of creatures and those that we look at as an “invasive” species. I think this is a message not only kids, but just about every human being, needs to hear nowadays.

Underneath the entertainment value and messaging, the film is a technical marvel. The cinematography from DP Evan Profosky is absolutle immaculate – not only is every wide-shot so gorgeous that you could frame it as a painting, even the simple color grading in sequences as simple as taking place inside of a grocery store make the film pop in such a lush fashion. The practical effects used for bringing the Ochi to life are also incredibly impressive, as you completely forget that they aren’t real creatures after a while. All of this culminates into an incredibly stimulating visual experience.

My only real gripe with the film is that of the pacing. At times, it can move incredibly slow, especially the moments that deviate away from Yuri and the young Ochi she is returning to his home. I appreciate the arc that Willem Dafoe’s character goes on throughout the film, and I don’t think the final message would have hit as hard if you didn’t spend addequate time on it – but I can’t help but feel like it was significantly slower and less interesting than everything else the film had to offer.

By the end, despite some pacing issues, I found The Legend of Ochi to be a wildly charming and thematically compelling family film. Not only is it nice to see a family film attempt to tell a layered story about compassion and humanity, but it’s also nice to see a film aimed at families that looks and sounds as good as this one does. It doesn’t shy away from violence and never once feels santizied, yet feels like something I could recommend to just about any family. By the end, The Legend of Ochi feels like a perfectly fun and heartwarming adventure for all-ages!