REVIEW: The Legend of Ochi (2025 Film) Starring Helena Zengel, Finn Wolfhard, Emily Watson, and Willem Dafoe

Review by Jon Donnis

Isaiah Saxon's The Legend of Ochi is a curious and quietly ambitious fantasy that offers flashes of beauty and menace, but ultimately suffers from a meandering middle and sluggish pacing. As a debut, it reveals a distinct visual style and a love of practical effects. However, it may not hit the mark for all audiences, particularly the younger ones it appears to be targeting.

Set on the remote, snowy island of Carpathia, the film follows Yuri (Helena Zengel), a young girl raised in a patriarchal village ruled by fear and violence. Her father Maxim (Willem Dafoe), disappointed she wasn't born a boy, trains children as soldiers to hunt the mysterious, goblin-like creatures known as the Ochi. When Yuri stumbles upon an injured baby Ochi and bonds with it, she decides to defy her upbringing and return the creature to its family. What follows is part escape and part quest, as Yuri evades pursuit from her father and searches for her estranged mother (Emily Watson), while trying to lead the baby Ochi to safety.

Visually, The Legend of Ochi is often mesmerising. Saxon's background in animation and world-building pays off with painted matte landscapes and a mix of media that recalls the tactile magic of 1980s fantasy cinema. Puppetry and animatronics are blended cleverly with digital animation, giving the Ochi a physical presence that feels grounded. The main creature, operated by seven performers apparently, is endearing and well designed, making it a clear highlight for younger viewers.

The film opens with an intense night hunt that sets the tone for something darker than typical family fare. Maxim and his boy soldiers, armed with torches, clash with shadowy creatures in the forest. It is a gripping way to begin and suggests the work of a confident filmmaker with a strong sense of tone and rhythm.

After that strong start, however, the film struggles to maintain momentum. The central premise, where a child finds a misunderstood creature and tries to return it to its kind, is overly familiar. The Legend of Ochi does not do enough to break free of that tradition. The middle portion of the film features extended travel and hiding sequences that are beautifully shot but dramatically thin. It feels like a journey without urgency.

Zengel gives a committed and physical performance, but the film's restrained tone prevents much emotional range. Dafoe plays Maxim with suitable menace, but the character functions more as an archetype than a fully realised figure. Watson's Dasha barely appears and Finn Wolfhard's Petro leaves little impression. The film is light on dialogue and heavier on silent moments, which sometimes enhances the mood but more often contributes to a feeling of drift.

Clocking in at around 90 minutes, the film is wisely brief. Younger children may enjoy the expressive creature design and calm pacing, while adults may admire the craftsmanship behind the visuals. Unfortunately, there are stretches where very little happens. The film occasionally captivates but more often feels inert, drifting between key scenes without enough story progression.

Despite these flaws, The Legend of Ochi remains a notable debut. Saxon has a clear artistic vision and a willingness to use handcrafted visuals over generic computer graphics. It is a thoughtful production with a gentle message, although it lacks the spark and tempo needed to keep the full audience engaged.

A visually rich and well-intentioned debut with a promising voice behind the camera. The Legend of Ochi begins with tension and ends with heart, but its sleepy middle section may leave some viewers disengaged. While not groundbreaking, it is a respectable first effort that shows Isaiah Saxon has potential.

I score The Legend of Ochi a generous 7 out of 10

Out Now on Digital

Apple TV - https://apple.co/3F6kiFQ

LEGEND Unveils June 2025 Channel Premieres: Oscar Winners, Sci-Fi Thrillers, and British Horror Lead the Line-Up

Images Provided by Clout Communications

By Jon Donnis

UK free-to-air genre channel LEGEND (Sky 148 / Virgin 149 / Freeview 41 / Freesat 137) has confirmed a packed schedule of channel premieres for June 2025, with a strong emphasis on award-winning Hollywood films, genre classics and cult British cinema. Leading the month is The Deer Hunter, Michael Cimino's five-time Oscar-winning Vietnam War drama starring Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and Meryl Streep. The film airs on Saturday 28 June at 22:45 and is widely regarded as one of the most powerful American films of the 1970s.

KING ARTHUR (2004) 

Also airing for the first time on LEGEND is John Huston's adaptation of Moby Dick (1956), with Gregory Peck in one of his most iconic roles, and William Friedkin's The Brink's Job (1979), a Boston-set true crime caper starring Peter Falk and Peter Boyle. Posse, the political western directed by and starring Kirk Douglas, closes out the month on Thursday 26 June.

Fans of genre fare can look forward to Virtuosity (1995), a tech-noir thriller featuring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe in a cyber-criminal cat-and-mouse chase set in near-future Los Angeles. Alien Nation (1988), which blends science fiction with hardboiled police drama, also gets a primetime slot. Action fans get Kickboxer: Retaliation (2018), starring Alain Moussi, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Mike Tyson, airing Thursday 5 June at 21:00.

VIRTUOSITY (1995)

British horror arrives with Deathwatch (2002), a WW1-set supernatural chiller starring Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis and Matthew Rhys. The film follows a lost squad of soldiers who discover something evil lurking in an abandoned trench. There's also 1968's Hammer fantasy The Vengeance of She, a mystical adventure involving reincarnation and an ancient queen, airing Wednesday 18 June.

Other highlights include Inside Out (2011), a lesser-seen WWE Studios crime drama starring Paul "Triple H" Levesque, Yangtse Incident (1957), based on the real-life Royal Navy stand-off with Chinese forces, and King Arthur (2004), the gritty historical reimagining with Clive Owen, Keira Knightley and Mads Mikkelsen.

LEGEND continues to deliver an eclectic mix of classic cinema, horror, war stories, cult gems and first-time showings across its network platforms. All films are free to air in the UK via Sky 148 / Virgin 149 / Freeview 41 / Freesat 137

REVIEW: The Ugly Stepsister (2025 Film) - Starring Lea Myren, Thea Sofie Loch Næss, Ane Dahl Torp, and Flo Fagerli

Review by Jon Donnis

The Ugly Stepsister, written and directed by Emilie Blichfeldt in her feature debut, is a savage and stylish dismantling of fairy tale beauty myths through the grotesque lens of body horror. A twisted reimagining of Cinderella, this Norwegian satire strips the story of its fantasy and instead drenches it in pain, pathology, and razor-sharp commentary.

From the opening moments, the film sets a visceral tone. Lea Myren gives a fearless, career-defining performance as Elvira, the overlooked daughter warped by her mother's obsessive ambition. Her physical transformation is shown in excruciating detail, with Blichfeldt unflinching in her portrayal of invasive beauty rituals, starvation, and self-mutilation. Every grim set-piece serves to hammer home the message: fairy tale beauty is not only constructed, it is enforced, with cruelty passed down from one generation of women to the next.

Blichfeldt's direction is steeped in striking contrasts. Fairy tale gowns hang beside surgical instruments. Ballroom opulence is lit with cold, clinical detachment. The palace is not a place of magic, but one of manipulation and performance. The blend of set design, practical effects, and camerawork creates a surreal atmosphere that feels both dreamlike and nightmarish. It's a film where glitter mingles with gore, and sweetness always carries a bitter aftertaste.

What truly elevates the experience is the script's biting sense of humour. The satire is pitch-black, but always purposeful. There are no cheap jokes here. Instead, the humour is used to expose hypocrisy, societal double standards, and the grotesque nature of how women's bodies are commodified and judged. Blichfeldt skewers the illusion of the fairytale romance, showing it as transactional, superficial, and indifferent to the emotional cost of transformation.

The supporting cast is equally strong. Ane Dahl Torp's performance as Rebekka is chilling in its restraint, a mother whose cruelty is cloaked in conviction. Thea Sofie Loch Næss brings quiet complexity to Agnes, the so-called "Cinderella" whose role as the passive beauty becomes more layered as the story unfolds. Flo Fagerli, as the youngest sister Alma, gives the film a subtle emotional centre, acting as a silent witness to the trauma unfolding around her.

The film is not without its flaws. At 1 hour and 45 minutes, the pacing occasionally lags, especially in the middle stretch where repetition begins to dull the impact. A tighter edit might have preserved momentum without losing the film's carefully cultivated atmosphere.

Still, The Ugly Stepsister is a bold and memorable debut. Blichfeldt shows an uncompromising vision, and her ability to balance horror with message is genuinely impressive. It's a film that provokes, unsettles, and lingers long after the credits roll. Fans of genre cinema who appreciate disturbing imagery with substance will find much to admire here.

More than just a gruesome retelling, The Ugly Stepsister is a mirror held up to our obsession with beauty and the damaging lengths some are pushed to in pursuit of it. It's not easy viewing, but it's exactly the kind of horror we need in 2025.

I score The Ugly Stepsister a beautiful 9 out of 10.

Out now on Digital

https://apple.co/3SKkEF6

REVIEW: Thunderbolts* (2025 Film) - Starring Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, Chris Bauer, Wendell Pierce, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Review by Jon Donnis

Marvel's latest ensemble entry tries to deliver a more cynical take on the superhero team-up formula by throwing together a group of damaged, underdog characters. This film focuses on the likes of Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost, Taskmaster and John Walker, all of whom have been manipulated into a mission that turns out to be a death trap orchestrated by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. What begins as a standard clean-up operation quickly becomes a race to survive, and then a fight to take control of their own narrative.

The story moves quickly from covert action in Malaysia to government conspiracies and a strange resurrection. Bob, a test subject for the failed Sentry project, emerges from suspended animation and becomes the centre of the plot's emotional and supernatural turn. Bob is not just a powerhouse with vague Superman-like abilities. He is traumatised and unwell, which gives the story a different tone compared to the usual Marvel fare. His eventual transformation into the Void allows the film to explore themes like depression, addiction and identity, even if it does so through a somewhat muddled lens.

Florence Pugh once again proves why she is one of the MCU's most compelling actors. She brings subtlety and control to a character who could easily have been reduced to sarcasm and fight scenes. Lewis Pullman is a surprising highlight, capturing both the fragility and power of a man who cannot trust his own mind. David Harbour provides much of the film's comic relief without weakening the tension, and there is a convincing sense of warmth to his dynamic with Pugh. These performances help elevate the material beyond its fairly predictable beats.

The action is large in scale and features the usual mix of hand-to-hand combat, weaponry and building-level destruction. Some sequences stand out visually, particularly when the Void's darkness begins warping reality and trapping citizens in nightmarish memory loops. These scenes are creatively staged, although some of the visual effects come across as rushed. It is another reminder that high budgets cannot always compensate for unrealistic timelines or studio overreach.

Pacing is another issue. The film runs for a little over two hours and there are several points where it feels stretched. Conversations drag, flashbacks repeat emotional beats, and the tension does not always hold between set pieces. While the emotional core is clearer than in some recent Marvel efforts, it sometimes competes with the need for spectacle and franchise setup. The climax itself tries to say something meaningful about trauma and solidarity but relies heavily on exposition to get there.

Character development is patchy. Although Bob and Yelena receive the most attention, others in the group are barely sketched in. Taskmaster remains more of a concept than a person, and John Walker is reduced to a few grunts and glares. This lack of balance makes it harder to care when they are in danger. Unlike the Avengers, who arrived fully formed with their own arcs already established, this team is made up of characters that never got the same treatment, making their unity feel less earned.

Despite this, there is some charm in the dysfunctional energy. The group feels like it is on the verge of collapse for most of the story, which helps to create tension. There are also several good jokes that cut through the seriousness, and the tone never becomes too self-important. The film knows its characters are flawed and lets them struggle with that without forcing redemption arcs where they do not belong.

There is a final twist that sets up future appearances and a tongue-in-cheek post credits scene that nods to upcoming crossovers. Whether this team will return or fade into Marvel's background remains to be seen. For now, it works well enough as a side project with decent performances, a few good set pieces and some emotional ambition, even if the overall experience is inconsistent.

It does not reach the heights of the best Marvel films and suffers from being too easy to compare with more iconic teams. However, it delivers just enough to justify its existence. The result is something that fans may enjoy in the moment but are unlikely to revisit.

7 out of 10

 

Out in Cinemas NOW!

 

PREVIEW: OH. WHAT. FUN. (2025 Film) Starring Michelle Pfeiffer!

 

Preview by Jon Donnis

Claire Clauster always makes Christmas magic happen. But what happens when the woman behind the tinsel and turkey disappears? In Oh. What. Fun., Michelle Pfeiffer plays Claire, the devoted mum and holiday perfectionist who finally reaches her limit. When her distracted husband and grown children forget to include her in their seasonal chaos, she quietly slips away, leaving behind a vacuum of gingerbread-scented responsibility.

Directed by Michael Showalter (The Big Sick, Spoiler Alert), this new holiday comedy flips the festive script. Instead of another tale about saving Christmas, it asks what happens when the person doing all the saving finally chooses herself. Claire's solo adventure offers moments of freedom, reflection, and unexpected cheer, all wrapped in crisp writing from Showalter and Chandler Baker.

Meanwhile, the Clauster family spirals into comedic disarray. Felicity Jones, Chloë Grace Moretz, Denis Leary, Dominic Sessa, Danielle Brooks, Devery Jacobs, Havana Rose Liu, Maude Apatow, Jason Schwartzman, Eva Longoria, and Joan Chen bring the dysfunctional crew to life. As they hunt for their missing matriarch, they stumble through mall mishaps, burnt dinners, and emotional wake-up calls.

With its sharp wit, big heart, and a standout lead turn from Pfeiffer, Oh. What. Fun. is a spirited ode to the unsung heroes of the holidays: the mums who make it all happen. But this time, it’s her turn to sparkle.

Streaming exclusively on Prime Video from 3 December 2025.