The Legend of Ochi was one of the films I was hoping to see with our Sundance Online pass this year, and while it wasn’t available in that format, I did still wish I could have seen that over Bubble & Squeak. Now, having seen both, I don’t feel that way. Both films were equally half-baked and uninteresting, which was especially disappointing for The Legend of Ochi, having pinned itself as a family movie.

Its premise was interesting, of course, but where I expected the story to veer somewhere in the realm of How to Train Your Dragon, it instead wandered around aimlessly for an hour and a half. Maxim’s pursuit of Yuri and the ochi was pretty uneventful, and the relationship between Yuri and the ochi didn’t ever develop that much emotionally. I also couldn’t figure out why Yuri dipped to begin with; there was never enough of a rift with her dad for that to be the reason, and the film never made it clear that her goal was to reunite the ochi baby with its family.

None of the cast’s performances were all that engaging either; even the few stars in the films—Willem Dafoe and Finn Wolfhard—didn’t really bring their A game. The story and characters all fell flat, resulting in a very boring experience. While I had also been teaching all day before my movie, there were a few times I almost fell asleep during this one. I’m sorry; I just didn’t click with it.

The Legend of Ochi wasn’t all negative, though; the visuals were very nice—very dreamy, natural, and sleepily satisfying—and the music provided some of the expected fanfare of a fantasy film where the story fell short. Unfortunately, I can’t think of many films that could hold themselves up by their peaceful visuals and upbeat score; without some engaging narrative aspects or cool characters, I’m going to fall asleep, no matter how pretty the sky looks or how happy the music is.

The Legend of Ochi was likely the most snooze-worthy film of 2025 for me—while never outright terrible, I was disappointed by the movie’s lack of ambition or interest in having any fun with its premise or characters. I’m glad that I am instead taking Morgan and Tyler to Sinners this weekend (I’m so excited to rewatch that); talk about visuals, music, and a fantastic story and cast of characters!