The Legend of Ochi Review

The Legend of Ochi Review

The Legend of Ochi opens in theaters April 25. This review is based on a screening at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.A tale of yearning, rebellion, and magical beings, Isaiah Saxon's The Legend of Ochi is a whimsical children's adventure with a beating heart. Its filmmaking isn't quite pristine, but the folkloric creature at its center, a baby Ochi – a species somewhere between a house cat and a snub-nosed monkey – is brought to life through de…

A24’s family fantasy The Legend of Ochi has a frustrating family problem

The Legend of Ochi premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. This initial review was timed for its world premiere embargo. A child befriending a creature everyone else thinks is too dangerous to befriend is the backbone of many memorable coming-of-age stories, from Free Willy and The Black Stallion to E.T. and How to Train Your Dragon. It’s the ultimate fantasy for young people: just getting a strange, misunderstood, unique creature in a way…

‘The Legend of Ochi’ Director Isaiah Saxon Mixed Puppetry, Animatronics and CG to Create One of the Most Nostalgic and Endering Worlds at This Year’s Sundance

The story around Isaiah Saxon’s feature debut, “The Legend of Ochi,” took a drastic turn, as so many Hollywood stories did, with this month’s Los Angeles fires. Saxon lost his home in the blaze, and the film’s theatrical release was pushed back. However, having spent years developing and working on the fantasy feature, Saxon is […]

‘The Legend of Ochi’ Review: Breathtaking Visuals & Impressive Puppetry Only Go So Far

PARK CITY – Somewhere in the Black Sea, residents of the remote island of Carpathia have spent decades, maybe centuries, trying to vanquish a species of vermin known as the Ochi. Never heard of an Ochi? Well, this fictional creature on a fictional island in a fictional world will remind you at first of a Mogwai from “Gremlins” until it grows up and becomes something slightly more ape-like. As a baby, however, it’s undeniably adorable. Continue r…

'The Legend of Ochi' Review: Breathtaking Visuals An Impressive Puppetry Only Go So Far

PARK CITY – Somewhere in the Black Sea, residents of the remote island of Carpathia have spent decades, maybe centuries, trying to vanquish a species of vermin known as the Ochi. Never heard of an Ochi? Well, this fictional creature on a fictional island in a fictional world will remind you at first of a Mogwai from “Gremlins” until it grows up and becomes something slightly more ape-like. As a baby, however, it’s undeniably adorable. Continue r…