A24 once again steps foot into the world of animation with the lackluster Legend of ochi, which takes a familiar concept, and attempts to put an A24 spin on things. I think the A24 worship is a little silly, given the fact that they are just a distribution studio, and a film like this, which is fairly generic and not terribly indicative of their artistic lean, examine why “A24 vibes” goes only as far as it can. This is A24, and it doesn’t have A24 vibes.

The story revolves around this fantastical creature, the Ochi, which is a little like a blue lemur or monkey (from what I can tell), and man’s pursuit to wipe it from the planet. The man (Willem Dafoe) has a supposedly true backstory for his reasoning, but his daughter isn’t on his wavelength. After her dad kills an adult Ochi, it leaves a baby ochi without someone to look after it. So, like every movie like this ever made, the little girl takes it under her wing, and sets off to return the Ochi deep in the forest where it belongs. Of course, Dad thinks something wicked this way came, and sets off to burn the world down to find his daughter he didn’t care about earlier.

So, from Free Willy to Alaska to The Amazing Panda Adventure, kids have been going on adventures with animals, all in the hopes of setting them free. this isn’t a bad film, just disappointing from an A24 stance. Instead of pushing back against the tried and true formula, it doesn’t know how to break from it in a meaningful fashion, so it becomes the most widely accessible A24 film so far. It therefore, feels dull at times. The main girl, who I’ve chosen not to credit, because I need to discuss how her performance doesn’t work, which is a tough line to walk, is poorly directed. i had a tough time understanding her, as she seemed to mumble most of her lines, and that’s even before she finds those plastic vampire teeth we all had as kids. Dafoe’s bold vocal performance stands in such stark contrast. Emily Watson and Finn Wolfhard are wasted in roles that are too small, and don’t use their talent.

While the movie wasn’t groundbreaking, the audio description was delightful. I also enjoyed the score and sound design for The Legend Of Ochi, and the brisk runtime means this mediocre effort won’t pull down your whole day. The description did a nice job of describing a film not laden with dialogue, that has a touch of fancy mixed with the fantasy, and strives to capture those A24 vibes it just can’t quite grasp.

Rotten: 5/10