From Steven Spielberg’s E.T., Dean DeBlois’s How To Train Your Dragon, and Netflix’s The Sea Beast, there is something so enchanting about seeing a young person connecting with a peculiar, misunderstood creature like nobody else could and discovering themselves in the process. A coming-of-age story involving a kid befriending a ‘forbidden’ creature is a familiar trope that’s ripe for a fresh interpretation. That’s the main premise of The Legend of Ochi, which has the distinction of being A24’s first family-friendly offering to date. Written and directed by Isaiah Saxon, a music video director who’s worked with Björk, Panda Bear, etc., it premiered at Sundance, a decade after Saxon began working on its concept at the Sundance Screenwriting Lab in 2015.

One thing I notice about The Legend of Ochi is the lush visuals that feel fantastical and otherworldly yet vividly evocative. It’s as if you could practically feel the dampness of the forest and the eerie atmosphere of the Carpathian Mountains of Romania, where it was shot. It opens with an aerial view of an island on the Black Sea, with a young girl’s VO narration: “People say this place is dangerous.”

For a kids’ movie, the opening sequence of a hunting scene, led by Maxim (Willem Dafoe), a scraggly man in a makeshift armor as if he’s Beowulf ready to fight Grendel, is pretty intense. Maxim has been on a vengeful mission against the legendary creatures known as Ochis, blaming them for the loss of his wife and son. The creatures resemble big, furry apes with sharp teeth that wander through the mountains and forests. The people have been taught to fear them as they supposedly prey on humans, though we never see them wander around the village.

Most of the troupe are boys except for a young farm girl, Yuri (Helena Zengel), Maxim’s daughter, who becomes separated from the pack and comes across an injured baby Ochi. The character design is adorable, a mix of E.T., Gremlins’ Mogwai, and The Mandalorian’s Grogu with orange fur and expressive eyes. Yuri immediately takes it home to nurse it and later helps bring it back to its family. The best part of the movie is when Yuri connects with baby Ochi. “You’re not like what they say,” as they hang out in her room. I love the moment Yuri puts on her toy fangs to relate to the little creature. Saxon brings a sense of awe and wonder to their interactions, and as Yuri believes she can decipher Ochi’s growls and squeaks, their bond deepens.

The tone of the movie feels a bit haphazard as the quieter scenes in the woods are contrasted with a more bombastic, humorous action of the supermarket scene and escaping in a stolen car. When Yuri encounters a mysterious woman, Dasha (Emily Watson), deep in the woods, who appears to know a lot about the Ochis, the mood shifts to something more solemn. Without going into spoiler territory, there is something intriguing about Yuri’s family dynamics, especially as it has parallels to baby Ochi’s journey,  but Saxon doesn’t delve into it deeply enough. This feels like a missed opportunity, as it could have added more emotional weight to its climax.

What Saxon does best is world-building, working with production designer Jason Kisvarday (Everything Everywhere All at Once) and cinematography by Evan Prosofsky, efficiently utilizing its relatively modest $10 million budget. For the creature, Saxon opts for real puppetry effects instead of CGI, giving actors something physical to engage with on set rather than just a virtual image. The score by David Longstreth has an ethereal, mystical vibe to it, which fits the ‘otherness’ aspect of this tale, but it can be a bit overbearing at times.

Performance-wise, Zengel is quite compelling as the lead here, headstrong yet compassionate. I remember being impressed with her in News of the World as she went toe to toe with Tom Hanks. Dafoe is always fun to watch, even if his character isn’t fully realized. At one moment, he refers to the creatures as ‘goblins,’ which made me laugh as he played the Green Goblin in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man. Watson is also a stellar character actor who adds gravitas to everything she does, while Finn Wolfhard as Maxim’s adopted son, Petro, is rather underutilized here.

Yuri and baby Ochi’s adventure is familiar and unfolds in a way we might expect, as it’s a hodgepodge of creature feature stories we’ve seen in the past. However, Saxon manages to knit a fresh spin into this well-worn yarn. Even the bleak, almost grim tone with a more subdued color palette seems to be by design to set it apart from the more typical frothy, cheerful, brightly-hued family movies. I think it’s intended more for older kids, given some of the darker content, creepy situations, and some strong language. It’s to be expected from A24, which focuses on off-the-beaten-path storytelling.

I wouldn’t say the movie is more style than substance, but the eye-catching visuals, where some of the realms are realized with matte paintings, are definitely the movie’s strongest asset. You can really see the incredible effort Saxon has put into his passion project, and that attention to detail shines through in nearly every frame. It may not be legendary, and it remains to be seen if it’ll be a modern family-fare classic he’s clearly been inspired by, but it’s got plenty going for it to warrant an enthusiastic recommendation.

Have you seen THE LEGEND OF OCHI? What did you think?

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