{"id":31089,"date":"2025-04-24T00:20:23","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T07:20:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=31089"},"modified":"2025-04-24T00:20:23","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T07:20:23","slug":"the-legend-of-ochi-looks-beautiful-but-doesnt-resonate-emotionally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=31089","title":{"rendered":"THE LEGEND OF OCHI Looks Beautiful, But Doesn\u2019t Resonate Emotionally"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Running Time: 95 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This feature from A24 opens exclusively at theaters on\nApril 25th<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some time ago, this reviewer was working on a project that\ninvolved research on Eastern European myths and legends. It also required\nwatching numerous film adaptations of fantastic tales from this area of the\nworld. The Legend of Ochi<\/em> is an original feature made by a US company,\nbut my first impression is that the main source of inspiration for the project\nmay have been the same kinds of pictures. It\u2019s a visually spectacular effort,\nbut one that does struggle to engage with the viewer on an emotional level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The story is set on the island of Carpathia in the Black\nSea. As the story begins, rebellious youth Yuri (Helena Zengel) explains that\nher village is populated by farmers who live by a strict 6pm curfew. This is\nbecause a strange breed of toothy creature called the Ochi appears at night,\nattacking livestock and, given the chance, people. Her dad Maxim (Willem Dafoe)\ntrains his son Petro (Finn Wolfhard) and other young boys from town to hunt and\nkill these strange beings. In part, this is because he blames them for taking\naway his wife, Dasha (Emily Watson). Maxim heads out one night with his son,\ndaughter and young recruits to hunt Ochi. It goes poorly, and Yuri begins to\nwonder about her father\u2019s claims. Her doubts are confirmed when she encounters\na wounded baby Ochi and sets out to return it to its family. Naturally, her\nfather is none-to-pleased with the idea and takes his team out to stop her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As mentioned, the visuals are incredible. The film was shot\nin Romania and the mountain locations (with some effects add-ons) are wondrous.\nThe striking caves and the lush green fictional home of the Ochi are impressive\nto behold. Additionally, the art direction on all of the homes and buildings in\nthe story are eye-popping. This includes Yuri\u2019s rundown abode, as well as the\ndark cabin in the hills, and even a colorful grocery store in a less-than-prime\nshopping location. The furry Ochi themselves are an interesting creation as\nwell, baring fangs while also looking cute and cuddly. The puppeteering used\nwith the title beings in many sequences is impressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The themes are pleasant as well, if overly familiar. Yuri\ndoesn\u2019t care for her father and doesn\u2019t feel like her brother sticks up for\nher. She doesn\u2019t want any part of her family, but in the process of trying to\nreconnect the Ochi with its own guardians, starts to change. Eventually, Yuri\nand everyone else in her family come to understand the importance of\nmaintaining bonds and forgiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As mentioned, it\u2019s a nice thought, but nothing about the\nmessage is new or inspired. Additionally, the picture never allows viewers to\nconnect with its characters and so the emotional beats fail to make an\nimpression. While beautiful, the fictional world on display and the people\nwithin it are very oddball. While the lead\u2019s strained relationship with Petro\ngenerates some empathy, most do not. Maxim walks around in makeshift armor\nbarking about wiping out the Ochi. The not-so-surprising appearance of a character\nsans a hand who almost immediately lectures Yuri about the creatures hardly\nseems like a reunion one would anticipate. Even the protagonist is excessively\nquiet and withdrawn. When she forms a bond with the creature (over their shared\nadmiration of caterpillars, I suppose) the interactions and humor that follows\nrarely lands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The movie is very enamored of its own quirkiness, which\nagain, reminded me of the unusual elements in Eastern European movies based on\nfairy tales and myths. In those cases, much of the bizarreness is due to\naudiences in this part of the world being unaware of cultural signifiers and\nwhat certain elements in the stories represent. But it feels like the makers of\nthis picture lean into the strangeness for its own sake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Legend of Ochi<\/em> looks marvelous and aspects of it\nmay entertain older kids (it likely isn\u2019t appropriate for young viewers aged\nfive or under). Pieces of the film are interesting, but the characters and the\nfamily drama don\u2019t make the kind of impassioned connection one would hope for.\nThis mythic tale may suffice viewers in the moment, but it isn\u2019t a story for\nthe ages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running Time: 95 minutes This feature from A24 opens exclusively at theaters on April 25th. Some time ago, this reviewer was working on a project that involved research on Eastern European myths and legends. It also required watching numerous film adaptations of fantastic tales from this area of the world. The Legend of Ochi is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":31092,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[216,605,2872,6929,7283,7314,7585,9024,12223,14533,15194,17318,21325,21326,21327,21328,24299],"class_list":["post-31089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-216","tag-a24","tag-black-sea","tag-emily-watson","tag-family","tag-fantasy","tag-finn-wolfhard","tag-helena-zengel","tag-legend","tag-myth","tag-ochi","tag-romania","tag-the-legend-of-ochi","tag-the-legend-of-ochi-film-review","tag-the-legend-of-ochi-movie-review","tag-the-legend-of-ochi-review","tag-willem-dafoe"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31089\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}