Sasquatch Sunset
Deep in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a mother, father and their two male children won’t all survive the year. The encroachment of humans into the perimeter of their environment may contribute to a “Sasquatch Sunset.”
Laura's Review: B+
Director/editors David, who also wrote and stars, and Nathan Zellner ("Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter") contemplate a year in the life of North America’s most infamous cryptids in a film with humor so natural to its apelike subjects it almost seems plausible. Bigfoot – he’s just like us!
The film begins like a nature documentary, one sasquatch grooming another in a field, then cuts to a scene of Mom (Riley Keough) and Dad (Nathan Zellner) rutting as their eldest (Jesse Eisenberg) and youngest (stuntman Christophe Zajac-Denek) look on from a distance, holding hands in stunned silence. It’s a great reaction shot and all the more surprising for how quickly we are able to distinguish among the four, distinct facial features and body types differentiating among the same species.
Eisenberg is the film’s comic relief, whether trying, and failing, to count to four or communing with a porcupine. Zajac-Denek also has a run-in with nature after attempting to kiss a snapping turtle, which dad will pick up and mime using as a telephone. Is he aping a human? He certainly displays greed when his eldest finds a patch of jack-o-lanterns and he drives the family off, hoarding all those juicy berries for himself. His indulgence will also have consequences, the horny Sasquatch being driven off by his annoyed mate and their children.
Are there others? We’ve seen these four beat on trees with large branches, a rhythmic code that appears to receive a faint reply and when dad fails to return mom and the kids will attempt to signal him as well. His adventures, which began humorously, take further turns when he imbibes a mushroom, but will become tragic. As Werner Herzog once said, ‘Nature here is vile. I see fornication and asphyxiation and choking and fighting for survival and growing and just rotting away . . .’ But the sasquatch family will also face the human world, a paved road leading off into the horizon thoroughly messing with their perspectives (they will mark it with breast milk and urine and throw feces – there are plenty of bodily fluids on display with these four). One of the film’s best shots, one which could have been played for laughs, instead invokes pathos, mother and child standing, mystified, in front of a Bigfoot museum in the early morning hours. The logging industry will bring more misfortune, mom later taking out her grief at a human campsite, disgusted by their scent.
Cinematographer Mike Gioulakis ("Old") gives the film a soft texture, a nature documentary through filtered light. The makeup and costumes transforming the actors into mythical beasts are extraordinary, the actors disappearing yet features and expression remaining. All four give intensely physical performances and, with ‘dialogue’ consisting of only grunts and shrieks, still convey emotion and interrelationships. The only misstep is a Sasquatch infant, clearly animatronic. Music by The Octopus Project is a huge asset, sometimes corny to stress comedic aspects, other times lyrical. Their original song, ‘The Creatures of Natures,’ with lyrics by Nathan Zellner is sung by Riley Keough.
“Sasquatch Sunset” is a gentle comedy with a melancholy undertone. It’s unique and I’m thrilled that it exists. Do they?
Robin's Review: B+
We follow the year in the life of a Sasquatch family as they forage for food, build shelters and wander the vast Pacific Northwest. They explore the wonders of nature – both good and bad – in “Sasquatch Sunset.”
The Zellner brothers, David and Nathan, direct a unique film that is a character study of a prehistoric Sasquatch family that parallels the early development of man. Shot in a style that evokes “documentary,” the diminutive cast (four in total) tell the story of the day to day life of a Sasquatch family.
Obviously, names are not given to characters that have not developed language, but that does not prevent them from learning things like counting and identifying dangers (the dad, though, proves a bit less discerning when it comes to danger). The remarkable thing about the story is I quickly forgot I was watching actors, but a Sasquatch family living their lives.
Jesse Eisenberg, Riley Keough, Christophe Zajac-Denek and Nathan Zellner play the members of the tiny family as they strive to survive. But, this is not just an anthropological study of the development of the missing link. As the family wanders and forages, they come across signs of man: a roadway, a tree marked by loggers, an abandoned campsite - but not a man.
The introduction of the signs of humans changes the whole fabric of the story. What began as a family trying to survive in the wilderness takes on a whole new significance. Did man destroy himself, finally, and the Sasquatch become the new predominant species? It is a nice interpretation of a story that steeps us in the family’s existence.
Bleecker Street releases "Sasquatch Sunset" in NY on 4/12/24, wide on 4/19/24. Click here for show times and tickets.
