This breathtaking fantasy adventure from visionary director Isa Mazzei (Cam) transports audiences to a mystical Eastern European forest where ancient creatures and human superstitions collide. When curious 12-year-old Yuri discovers an abandoned ochi pup, her journey to return it home becomes a transformative odyssey through forgotten wilderness and her own fears. The film blends practical creature effects with subtle CGI to create one of cinema’s most original mythological worlds since Pan’s Labyrinth.
Shot entirely on location in Romania’s Carpathian Mountains, The Legend of Ochi features dialogue in three languages (English, Romanian, and the constructed “Ochi tongue”) with an international cast led by Oscar-nominated young talent Helena Zengel. The production worked closely with environmental groups to minimize ecological impact while capturing the forest’s raw beauty. Early screenings have praised the film’s emotional depth and stunning visuals that recall Studio Ghibli’s best work.
Cast of The Legend of Ochi
1- Helena Zengel as Yuri
The System Crasher star delivers another astonishing performance as the brave yet conflicted protagonist. Zengel’s Yuri undergoes a profound transformation from fearful villager to courageous protector, with the young actress performing 90% of her own stunts including treacherous river crossings and rock climbs.
Zengel prepared for six months with a movement coach to develop Yuri’s distinctive physicality – a blend of cautious village gait evolving into feral forest confidence. Her scenes with the animatronic ochi pup required immense patience, often shooting 14-hour days to capture perfect reaction shots.
2- Willem Dafoe as Maxim
Dafoe brings gravitas as the village’s reclusive “Ochi Hunter,” a traumatized war veteran who becomes Yuri’s reluctant mentor. His character’s arc from antagonist to ally provides the film’s most complex moral dilemmas, particularly in a chilling campfire confession scene.
The veteran actor lived alone in a hunter’s cabin for two weeks prior to filming, foraging his own food and studying with Romanian survival experts. Dafoe’s haunting rendition of a traditional Carpathian mourning song became an unexpected highlight of the soundtrack.
3- Emily Watson as Dasha
Watson shines as Yuri’s superstitious but loving mother, whose own childhood trauma with the ochi fuels her overprotectiveness. Her kitchen argument with Zengel – conducted entirely in Romanian – is one of the film’s most powerful emotional moments.
The two-time Oscar nominee immersed herself in rural Romanian culture, learning to bake traditional bread and weave baskets for authenticity. Watson’s face communicates volumes in silent reaction shots as Dasha’s beliefs are slowly shattered.
4- Finn Wolfhard as Petro
The Stranger Things star brings humor and heart as Yuri’s mischievous cousin who secretly aids her quest. His character’s comic relief provides crucial breathing room between tense forest sequences.
Wolfhard learned basic Romanian for his role and performed all his own stunts in the thrilling ravine chase sequence. His improvised joke about turnips actually made it into the final cut.
5- Răzvan Stoica as Ivan
The Romanian theater veteran steals scenes as the village elder whose folk tales about the ochi prove dangerously misleading. His animated storytelling sequences are enhanced by stunning shadow puppet interludes.
Stoica drew from his grandfather’s actual folk tales for his performances, even incorporating a rarely-seen Carpathian finger-whistling technique.
6- Carol Borș as Oleg
As the village’s paranoid blacksmith, Borș creates an unforgettable villain whose metal traps threaten both ochi and humans alike. His climactic confrontation with Yuri showcases the actor’s physical intensity.
The Romanian actor worked with actual blacksmiths to create the film’s prop traps, lending terrifying authenticity to his torture devices.
7- Andrei Antoniu Anghel as Vlad
The young actor brings surprising depth to Yuri’s initially hostile brother, whose own secret fascination with the ochi mirrors her journey.
Anghel’s real-life martial arts training informed his character’s defensive body language, which gradually softens throughout the film.
