Watch the incredible puppets from A24s The Legend of Ochi in action
A24’s upcoming The Legend of Ochi promises a return to handcrafted fantasy adventure films, and the studio has released a first-look featurette to prove it.
The first look opens with a behind-the-scenes shot of the film’s hero, Yuri (Helena Zengel), riding a shopping cart down a grocery store aisle. On her back is a small golden-furred creature like something out of Gremlins. This is one of the Ochi, a mystical being from Yuri’s home island of Carpathia. It’s also a remarkable puppet.
“As we were shooting, you could see all five puppeteers standing around in plain clothes, and if you looked at the puppet, you were like, ‘That’s a real living thing,'” writer-director Isaiah Saxon says in the first look.
The featurette shows more examples of the puppets — and even an Ochi exoskeleton! — in action, as well as a deeper look at the fantastical journey Yuri must undertake to reunite her Ochi friend with its mother.
“There is a slow dial that gets turned up towards fantasy and magic over the course of the film,” Saxon says. “Growing up, I felt that the deepest mysteries were found in nature, and I hope to share that same feeling that anything is possible.”
The Legend of Ochi also stars Willem Dafoe, Emily Watson, and Finn Wolfhard.
