Indie filmmaking, brothers. Nathan Zellner and David Zellner (Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, Damsel), rework their Sundance Award-winning short film Sasquatch Birth Journal 2, and could have easily just left this bonkers of a feature as a short film. Obviously, they still feel strong creative urges to expand their idea. A raunchy, uncomfortable, and surreal comedy, Sasquatch Sunset, produced by Jesse Eisenberg, who also co-stars as one of the four sasquatches, holds some compelling ideas about the drudgery of nature and that these Sasquatch beasts are no different than humans as we observe them eating, mating, sleeping, scratching themselves, picking their noses, building shelters, and repeating the same daily rituals. While the film is very hit-or-miss, it actually works better when it explores its ideas about nature, where some of the gross humor grows tedious after a while.
The film follows a Sasquatch family of four (Riley Keough, Eisenberg, Christophe Zajac-Denke, and Nathan Zellner), and we follow them over the four seasons of a year in the Pacific Northwest. The camera observes their daily routines, and there are some hilarious gags involving them getting attacked by a turtle, picking up skunks, and enjoying the scents from the bottom of their tails. Nathan Zellner plays the father sasquatch, and he ends up getting ill after selfishly eating some hallucinogenic berries. The sasquatch family ends up facing some severe adversities against nature, and they must attempt to survive.
The film aesthetically matches the look of a Werner Herzog movie; it can even match a nature documentary, and the low-brow humor echoes the Farrelly Brothers. There is a cheeky sensibility to the film, along with some very memorable scenes that are both strange and oddly compelling, one of which involves one of the Sasquatches getting trapped by a log in a lake. The film doesn’t work on all levels; some of the humor grows tedious and isn’t as amusing as it thinks it is. One unfunny scene involves the sasquatches discovering a road, and they defecate and urinate on the road, which is ungainly and eye-rolling. But with one bad scene come a few great ones, especially one where they walk into a campground. I could have also lived without all the Sasquatch-erected dongs in the film, which are desperate and ungainly.
Despite knowing where the film is going and bodily function humor falling flat, the Zellner Bros. at least keep the film interesting. They stay true to the Bigfoot lore, and each of the actors embodies their roles as Sasquatches quite well. The body language between all the actors feels effortless, where all the primal instincts, animal behavior, and expressions all play off convincingly well. There are even small nuances of what Sasquatch life would probably be like. Even the way they ate leaves, berries, and fish felt vivid in the film. There is a strange, magical beauty to this film, and it is unlike anything you will ever experience.
I suspect this film will gain a cult following in the years to come. Strangeness aside, the film cleverly examines how human life and sasquatch life really aren’t too far apart if they were indeed real. To what degree Sasquatch Sunset works or doesn’t work will certainly depend on the viewer. Indeed, the flaws are easy to find since some humor is gross or uncomfortable. Watching this movie is more of an exercise; it feels transporting, and perhaps the closest thing we will ever get to seeing how Sasquatches would actually act and react in their environment. The bigger question is, what will old-school conspiracy theorists think?
SASQUATCH SUNSET is now playing in theaters
Seems weird
This film.looks strange and funny which makes it kinda intriguing, lol!! I think I’ll give it a try when it’s streaming. I live Bigfoot related stuff!
Really looking forward to this one. Really enjoyed “Damsel” And still need to see “Kumiko”! Wish you liked this one more but should be interesting still.
This seems almost delightfully strange
Reminds me of when they make feature films out of SNL skits LOL!
I was excited to see it because I’ve been on a real Bigfoot kick lately. I don’t know why or what started it lol but I’ve been watching a lot of Bigfoot documentaries and listening to podcasts from people who said they saw it. Sasquatch Chronicles is my go to binge for podcasts. It’s fascinating to hear these people talk about their experiences. Very incredible people military, police and this one English lady who was so traumatized and upset. You know something happened to her. I think it was episode 255. You should listen to. It . So I was curious to see how accurate it would be to what is being said about them these days. They got a couple things right but they got a lot of things off I thought. In the movie, they sounded like gorillas or chimpanzees which I don’t think that they do. I think they’re basically pretty quiet, especially when they trashed that campsite, I doubt very much that they would be making that much noise vocally. And I was hoping to hear the scream that they have which sounds like a siren going off. Or even the babbling that they do that sounds like humans talking without making any sense. It’s odd. Google the Sierra Sounds and you’ll see what I mean. It’s insane. Also I didn’t think their shoulders were broad enough. But the scenery was beautiful. It was shot really well well and cool, and the ending was kind of sweet. I was surprised I killed off the two males tho. Watched the credits to see if they had any one who Advised them on bigfoot, like an expert or anything and there wasn’t one that I saw. Plus I was hoping for some really cool bloopers lol which they weren’t. all in all it was a cute movie definitely not for kids! I’d like to see it again with lower expectations this time and just enjoy it for what it is.
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And they really didn’t show them eating meat, and a lot of hunters are saying that they do. And I really don’t think that panther would’ve killed one especially a huge male. When you hear the stories about these things of people tell they’re pretty crazy strong. I don’t know. It’s all just stories I guess but it’s hard not to take these people for their word when you listen to them speak sometimes. I guess maybe some people are really good actors and liars but some of these people I just don’t know. I think that something happened to them.
The female Bigfoot was really intriguing to because she seems so sad and disappointed with her life. That was kind of disturbing for me. You could see it in her eyes. And end with them just standing there looking at that big fake bigfoot and trying to communicate with it and then the the young one clacking his rocks together. Right in front of the store, not far from where Patty was filmed in 67.
But I agree with your assessment of the movie. I enjoyed it. It was cute. It was funny it was even well acted for what they had to do which I’m sure was difficult. I know that Eisenberg said they had to take classes on how to act like Bigfoot lol
Definitely destined to be a cult film. And a film that many will love and many will hate. No real,dialogue. We just follow a Sasquatch family in the woods. At first you don’t know where this takes place , but that is clarified later. I found the film to be original and different, despite the constant fecal material jokes. 3 of 4 stats