I’ve had a fascination with cryptids, especially Bigfoot, since I was a little kid. While I never truly believed in them, I was still obsessed with stories about these creatures and the idea that they COULD MAYBE exist. So when I sat down for Nathan and David Zellner‘s film Sasquatch Sunset, I was rather excited to experience what essentially seemed to be a slice-of-life drama about a family of sasquatches. But I was disappointed with a film that moved way too slowly and tried to say too much with too little.
Sasquatch Sunset is split into four parts, one for each of the seasons. And with each season comes a life-altering event for this small family. The hierarchy in the group is as follows: the alpha male (Nathan Zellner), the younger but meeker male (Jesse Eisenberg), the lone female (Riley Keough), and a younger Bigfoot (Christophe Zajac-Denek). They hang dong and behave like the basest form of humanity, communicating through grunts, pooping freely, and aggressively mating in the open forest. They understand hierarchy and even gender dynamics as Keough’s Sasquatch resists sexual advances from the males around here. Yes, even cryptids suffer under the patriarchy.
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This is a film about tragedy and survival in the face of certain death that moves at a snail’s pace. While the third act picks up and delivers back-to-back gut punches, it’s too little too late to keep the doubtful viewer engaged. Sasquatch Sunset is a prime example of you’ll either love it right away or never quite hit its wavelength. Sadly I’m the latter as I was never truly able to buy into NAME’s narrative experiment. While I’m sure the poop jokes and plethora of bodily fluids are meant to speak to the human experience, they never quite landed enough to feel necessary or profound.
The actors’ training to move and act like humanoid primates paid off as the performances of our four actors underneath the massive hair suits do feel primal. It helps that they are hidden under so many pounds of prosthetics, but each is still able to convey complex emotions through grunts, facial expressions, and hand movements. While it may be hard to deliver a profound performance in such a situation, Keough creates an incredibly empathetic female Bigfoot who is constantly being faced with her face even within her own species. She’s constantly fighting for agency over her own body while also being looked to for caretaking. Not even cryptids can escape the weight of misogyny, I guess. And here I thought being a mythical creature granted you freedom.
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It’s also a technically beautiful film with sweeping shots of gorgeous wooded landscapes backed by a triumphant score by Austin-based experimental rock band The Octopus Project. Everything here looks gorgeous and pristine as director of photography Mike Gioulakis depicts the glory of untouched nature which fades as the seasons and the Bigfoots’ journey progresses.
Regardless of whether or not Sasquatch Sunset is successful for you, it’s exciting to see strange and bizarre cinematic experiences such as this getting a wide theatrical run. While I wasn’t as touched by the story of this Sasquatch family, I respect the craft poured into such a film by the entire filmmaking team. It’s weird, whacky, and fascinating in its approach to real-world issues through a micro-cryptid society. If you’re looking for a film to watch during the next 4/20 festivities, this may need to be added to the rotation.
Summary
Sasquatch Sunset is technically gorgeous, but it’s ultimately trying to say too much with too little.
