In all seriousness, The Legend of Ochi is something a little bit different than what’s normally released under the A24 banner. It’s essentially a riff on the story of E.T given a spikier and quirkier edge, and set in rural areas throughout Scandinavia. The original setting and feel is the best thing Ochi has going for it, that and the adorable Ochi creature itself, an impressive mix of CG and practical effects. It’s engaging to see a fantasy film helmed in the Scandinavian countries, with its own unique look and mythology that is often really engaging, both narratively and visually. I particularly enjoyed the first act, where the film lets the audience (which, in my screening, was just me) into its world.
As the film goes on, it has to expand the story and this is where it starts to encounter some issues. The tone can feel inconsistent at points, going from a serious scene of attempted reconciliation, to goofy shots of Willem Dafoe hamming it up and Finn Wolfhard’s bemused reactions. The pacing also lags a bit in the middle, having a few too many scenes of this young girl and the Ochi running across the wilderness while Dafoe and his entourage of village children try to catch up.
Also, if you’ve seen E.T then a lot of this plot will be very familiar to you - the different tonal approach can only do so much to cover up the fact that it borrows rather liberally from the Spielberg classic.
Still, The Legend of Ochi manages to do enough things different to really stand on its own as an intriguing take on a well-worn story. It’s not perfect, but I can see this having cult potential in the near future, and it would work well for slightly older kids who want to see something a little odder. And for those kids who’ve only seen Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin, it serves as another example of a film that can kickstart the inevitable obsession with the greatest actor on the planet.