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Isaiah Saxon’sThe Legend of Ochihas been a long time coming, with fans having waited with bated breath for the music video director and animator’s feature directorial debut. It is an old-school family adventure following a girl who sets out on a journey with a wounded animal, and in our review, we called it “one of the most visually stunning family films in years.”
AtThe Legend of Ochi’s premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, we got to speak with the film’s cast on the red carpet, including Helena Zengel, Finn Wolfhard, and Emily Watson, discussing the film, its themes, and its influences.
The Legend of OchiInterviews
For a young actress — Zengel was only 13 at the time of filming — not having a human co-star is quite a unique challenge, and for her to have pulled it off so successfully is quite the accomplishment. We asked Zengel how it felt to work alongside the puppet as her primary co-star:
“Great!” she exclaims. “It was a great challenge for me as an actress to develop my acting to something that would not really react.”
The Legend of Ochi: Release Date, Cast, Plot, and All You Need to Know About A24’s Next Project
In many ways,The Legend of Ochiis a film about connection. The film’s protagonist forms an unexpected bond with the eponymous creature while also reconnecting with her own family. We asked Watson what resonated with her about this theme of connection.
“I mean, my character is quite complicated and messed up in a film that’s broadly childlike in its sensibility,” says Watson. “And my character has sort of been in exile in life because of the way that she believes what her role is and what she wants to do with her life, and she’s kind of taken herself away because no one accepts what she does. She’s kind of a witch. And then she becomes reunited with her child through belief in these creatures.”
For Zengel and Watson’s co-star Finn Wolfhard, 2025 is a big year that is the reward of a lot of patience. Not only isThe Legend of Ochifinally being released, but so too is his feature directorial debut, Hell of a Summer, which premiered at TIFF back in 2023. We asked Wolfhard about the virtue of patience in independent filmmaking and why he thinks it’s important:
“It’s everything,” he asserts. “I mean, we shot [The Legend of Ochi] in 2021, and I started writingHell of a Summerin 2019, so yeah, it just takes a long time. It’s just a part of the process — the patience. And then in the end, you just have to be grateful to be able to celebrate it on a day like today. It’s all worth it when everyone gets to get together and watch the movie.”
The Legend of Ochi Sundance Review — Gorgeous Visuals Carry Lush Family Adventure
The Legend of Ochiis inspired by classic children’s fantasy adventures — Amblin-esque films, if you will. We asked the cast what some of their favorite children’s adventure films are, and you’ll recognize many of them.
Wolfhard gave us a wide list of children’s fantasy films — some widely beloved classics and others films that have found more of a cult following. “I mean,The Gooniesis great,” he says. “Adventures in BabysittingI remember loving growing up — obviously a very different tone.Neverending Story.Pagemaster. You know, these classic movies where it really felt like there were real stakes for these kids. And I feel like a lot of movies that are family adventure movies now, I feel like don’t have a lot of stakes.”
Zengel’s choices were very different from Wolfhard’s but also iconic. “E.T.,Gremlins,” she said quickly and confidently.
Maybe soon,The Legend of Ochiwill be mentioned in the same breath as those iconic works. But whileThe Legend of Ochiis a children’s film, it also has qualities that will allow it to appeal to adults. We asked Emily Watson why she thinks this is a perfect film for audiences of all ages:
The Legend of Ochiis screening at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, which runs January 22-February 2 in Park City and Salt Lake City, UT, and January 30-February 2 online.
Sean Boelman
Managing Editor for Film and TV
Articles Published :441
Sean is the Managing Editor for Film and Television, working to determine editorial strategy for the critics team. He has been on the FandomWire team since 2022.In addition to writing reviews himself, Sean helps match writers on the FandomWire team with assignments that best fit their interests and expertise.
