'The Legend Of Ochi' Movie Ending Explained & Summary: What Does Maxim’s Army Of Boys Symbolize?

The Legend of Ochi is a new fantasy adventure film that is exquisite to look at, both because of the soft, painting-like visuals and landscapes, as well as the passionately detailed puppetry that is at the core of its narrative. The plot is centered around a young girl named Yuri living in a secluded village on the island of Carpathia, who dares to set out on an adventure alone and comes across a series of experiences that challenge whatever she has been taught by her family since childhood. While The Legend of Ochi might appear a bit too slow to be a children’s film, as per the present-day standards of the genre, it still makes for a fresh and unique family viewing experience.

Spoiler Alert

What is the film about?

The Legend of Ochi begins by giving us a lay of the land, through the voiceover of the protagonist, a young girl named Yuri. The small village where Yuri lives is far from any other settlement, and so the villagers have gotten used to a life of self-sufficiency and, more importantly, have learned to protect themselves from their enemies. The enemies in question are the fantastic beasts and creatures that lurk in the lands and seas of Carpathia, the remote island on which the village is situated. Driven by the fear of these unknown beasts, the villagers maintain a strict curfew timing after dark and keep their children safe within the bounds of their homes at most times, teaching them to never step out in the evenings and to treat all wild animals as enemies.

Yuri has also been given the same lessons in life, but her situation is slightly different to that of the rest of the children, for she is quite used to stepping out at night along with her father. The girl belongs to a family of hunters, headed by her father, Maxim, who has almost a vengeful hatred against the wild creatures known as the Ochi. Thus, Maxim often organizes hunts with a group of young boys, all of whom he wants to treat like his own sons, in order to hunt wild Ochi and thin their population as much as possible. Yuri is also a part of these hunting expeditions, although her father does not particularly trust her much with shooting the beasts. 

As Yuri and her adoptive brothers go out on a hunt on one particular night, they come across a big group of Ochi in the forest, and they start firing at the beasts on the orders of Maxim. Although the night sky is pierced by the loud gunshots and the shrill warbling of the Ochi, neither the humans nor the animals can inflict any significant harm to one another. Almost at the brink of being attacked by the otherwise reclusive beasts, Yuri spots a young Ochi fleeing on the treetops, clearly detached from its family. Her adoptive elder brother, Petro, protects her from any danger, and the whole hunting party returns home. The next day, Yuri has an argument with her father, as is seemingly quite common in the household, and she is ordered to go check the traps laid by the hunters in the forest.

It is now that Yuri finds the young Ochi from the previous night, severely injured by one of the traps, but something makes her react to it with unusual compassion. Instead of killing the creature or taking it to her father, she rescues the young Ochi and takes it home, where she starts tending to her injuries. However, the wild animal’s howls quickly alert Maxim’s army of boys, leading Yuri to leave home and set out on an adventurous journey to help her new friend reunite with its family. 

How are Yuri’s parents starkly different from each other?

Yuri’s life in The Legend of Ochi is significantly difficult because of her broken relationship with her parents, or rather her father, since her mother is no longer around. Yuri’s mother, Dasha, had left the family when the girl was very young, and since then Maxim has been raising her by himself. But Maxim can hardly be called an ideal father, for he is quite neglectful towards Yuri emotionally, as is established very early in the film. Despite having a daughter of his own, the man craves to have sons and mentions his wife leaving him as a tragedy only because it means that he can no longer have any. Maxim believes men to be physically stronger and therefore more capable in hunts, because of which he does not prefer to take Yuri along on the hunting nights.

But it is also not like Maxim lets his daughter live the life that she wants, for he is also an immense supporter of rules and codes of conduct, quite appropriate to his name. He is often seen listening to or reciting from memory verses from the Bible and also war speeches. Maxim’s tough nature is disliked by Yuri to the point that she hates her father and everything that he stands for. It is almost as if she has developed a liking for heavy metal music only because her father hates such genres and considers only classical music to be worth listening to. The posters on the walls of her room can all be related to the teen angst and the feelings of frustration towards the father figure that Yuri herself has developed so strongly.

But perhaps the biggest point of difference between Yuri and Maxim is with regard to their opinions on nature and wildlife, with the father seeing all of it as a threat to humanity, while his daughter is actually emotionally drawn to them. This is initially hinted at by the fact that the girl has caterpillars as pets, perhaps because she is allowed to keep only such small and harmless animals with her, but becomes all the more evident when her first instinct is to not hurt the Ochi and help it instead. Therefore, when the time is right, Yuri makes use of the situation to help nature by reuniting the little Ochi with its family and to get away from her father, who she feels does not understand her or even care for her.

During her adventures, Yuri meets her mother, Dasha, seemingly for the first time in as long as she can remember, since Maxim never allowed her to go seek her mother out. According to Maxim, Dasha had abandoned the family and did not want to see or meet Yuri ever again, and so despite her strong desires, she could never meet her mother. When the reunion finally happens, the similarities between the mother and daughter are very evident, particularly with regard to their shared love for nature. Dasha does more than just love nature and wildlife, she is deeply passionate about the flora and fauna of Carpathia. She has been researching the lost harmony and bond between humans and animals for a very long time and strongly believes that both sides must respect the other’s existence.

In this regard, Dasha is obviously similar to Yuri, as she too does not support Maxim and the other humans’ slaughtering of the Ochi, but there are differences between them as well. Yuri’s love for nature is very innocent and docile, as she genuinely believes that she can be friends with wild animals. Dasha’s experiences in life perhaps do not allow her to be so casual about such a relationship between humans and beasts, which is why she clearly asks her daughter to not entertain such hopes. Dasha firmly believes that wild beasts like the Ochi are not meant to be pets for humans that can be trained or groomed in a certain way. She does not see animals as playmates meant for human beings, being opposed to this very anthropocentric perspective towards nature, and believes that nature and wildlife have their own strong, powerful existence in the world. Humans must respect this power and maintain a fine balance between themselves and animals but should not try to dominate over nature, albeit in a loving way.

Yuri thinks that the Ochi’s bite has miraculously given her the power to speak the language of the animal, and therefore she does not want an antidote injection. But Dasha certainly knows better, and so she injects the antidote, for she knows that it is because of her lessons that Yuri is able to suddenly speak the warbling language and that the Ochi’s bite is actually deadly for humans. If we are to see The Legend of Ochi as a modern coming-of-age tale, then it is certainly possible to see Yuri as a young child trapped between the differing opinions and beliefs of their parents and also suffering because of an early separation between them. But by the end, Yuri realizes that both her parents care for her significantly, and this is the learning that children in a similar situation as her are seemingly subjected to through the film.

What does Maxim’s army of boys signify?

Maxim’s army of young boys, whom he trains to be fighters and hunters, is quite interesting because they are symbolic of a growing tendency in the real world that is very unfortunate. On the surface, Maxim’s habit of helping young boys whose families have been killed or displaced seems quite noble, for he is technically giving them a home and a life that would have surely eluded them otherwise. However, Maxim has his own intentions behind this habit, for he wants to raise an army of soldiers who would not just help him in the hunts but would also do his bidding at all times. This is why the boys are ready to attack even Yuri when she tries to fight her father, pointing their guns at the girl only to save their father figure, or even master, Maxim.

Interestingly, whenever we see humans attacking the Ochi in The Legend of Ochi, it is done either by Maxim himself, or by teenagers who are not really expected to be so violent against a reclusive species of wild animals. Even when Yuri and her furry friend are attacked at the grocery store, it is a teenager working as a cashier who brings out a rifle and gives them a chase. Beneath the surface of the plot, this seems to be a symbolic representation of the current situation in the real world, where youngsters are being indoctrinated with polarizing opinions and are then being used to fight, demean, humiliate, and bully others, especially online. This has naturally increased the rate of teenage crimes, or at least of teenagers abusing or harassing strangers online, all across the world. 

Teenagers are an easy target for older individuals and groups who need a quick following, since they do not fully comprehend certain aspects of life, naturally so, because of their inexperience. The tendency to question norms and traditions among youngsters is nowadays being molded and manipulated into upkeeping the same traditions and norms, and this is exactly what is happening in the world of The Legend of Ochi. Maxim is basically capitalizing on the boys’ losses and their aggrieved psyches to mold them into violent soldiers who do not question the act of killing. 

Ultimately, this is quite a dangerous practice, for such soldiers can often stop following orders by the time they start to develop their own cruel perspectives on the world. Thus, towards the end of the film, Maxim’s order for his soldiers to put down their guns and not attack the Ochi falls on deaf ears. The boys believe that they now clearly know better, and so they open fire on the beasts they have grown up believing to be their enemies, which further complicates the situation.

What does the film’s ending teach Yuri?

The Legend of Ochi has an endearing ending with Yuri finally reaching the secluded forest, which is the home of the Ochi. She goes against all odds and the warnings of her parents to help her Ochi friend reunite with its family. Given Maxim’s character, he naturally follows her into the caves, but now his fatherly instincts to keep his daughter safe kick in. He suffers a serious injury inside the cave, as he gets trapped under some massive logs, and this is when Maxim and Yuri have a heartwarming conversation. Eventually, when Maxim’s boys open fire on the Ochi and turn the animals hostile, the situation is about to get out of hand, but Dasha comes to the rescue with her flute, which calms down the Ochi.In The Legend of Ochi’s ending, Yuri is able to hand over the young Ochi to its family, and it marks a happy ending to the tale. This experience also teaches Yuri about life and her parents, as she finally comes to the realization that both her parents genuinely love her, despite their flawed ways of expressing it. The parents also understand the true meaning of their responsibilities, especially Maxim, who realizes how important expressing his real feelings and emotions to his daughter is. Dasha also understands that although she had her valid reason for having abandoned the family earlier, it is also important for her to stay in touch with her daughter at present. Thus, The Legend of Ochi’s ending has Dasha and Yuri reuniting with a warm hug, just like the mother and child Ochi, while Maxim looks on with warmth in his eyes, for he is finally able to see his family together, albeit temporarily.

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