Parents' Guide to The Legend of Ochi

Distributor A24's first family film is consistent with its tendency to prioritize high art experimentation and unexpected endings, which can be wonderful for some but off-putting for others. The Legend of Ochi feels like the original version of an Old World fairy tale with its remote Romanian location filled with eerie mists, thick accents, and a way of speaking that feels very 18th century. Maxim, who's like the village Scout Master, does most of the talking. Yuri barely speaks. And why would she? As the only girl in a "wolf pack" of boys, suspicious of her adopted brother, Petro (Finn Wolfhard), who's "only nice when no one is around," Yuri has no one to connect with, to laugh with, to see her. Her dad has taught her to be brave and capable of taking care of herself, but he's also been suppressing her ability to think for herself. The injured ochi awakens this, and when Yuri takes off, she takes viewers along with her to another unexpected world.

This film is music video director Isaiah Saxon's first feature, and it certainly won't be his last: What he has created here is pure, out-of-the-box imagination. For adults who grew up with 1980s movies, this mystical tale may feel especially magical, unusual but also familiar, thanks to its fantasy world populated with puppets reminiscent of The NeverEnding Story and The Dark Crystal and its mix of mythical creatures and the modern day, which is reminiscent of E.T. and Gremlins.