There are gunshots, flames, and Ochi hurling through the trees. It’s a breathtaking way to open a film, and immediately makes you feel like you’re in the hands of a confident filmmaker. Saxon shifts gears after the prologue to really introduce us to Yuri’s family dynamic.

A child befriending a creature everyone else thinks is too dangerous to befriend is the backbone of many memorable coming-of-age stories, from Free Willy and The Black Stallion to E.T. and How to Train Your Dragon. It’s the ultimate fantasy for young people: just getting a strange, misunderstood, unique creature in a way no one else can.

Willem Dafoe, Finn Wolfhard and Helena Zengel star in Isaiah Saxon's Sundance premiere about a young girl who encounters a fascinating new species.