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.
The Legend of Ochi hits theaters Apr. 25.
