Sasquatch Sunset (2024)

David & Nathan Zellner have chosen an unusual group of a species that may exist only in our imaginations, a family of Sasquatches. We usually think of them as a single creature, often calling them Big Foot, but the filmmakers focus upon a family—the two parents and two male offspring. We follow their ups and downs through the four seasons of a year.

In “Spring” the family members groom each other, extrcting insects and such from their long hair. The adults engage in sex. (The mles have small penises that poit upward when aroused—parents who haven’t talked about sex with their children about sex will probably want to watch this film by themselves.) There is no dialogue, just grunts and groans and cries as they move about in the thick forest. Kids who love fart jokes will find much to enjoy. There is also a far too close of a painful encounter with an angry snapping turtle that is funny only to those looking on.

Indeed, the film starts out as a comedy and slowly evolves into a tragedy of loss and survival as one of the youngsters falls pray to a large mountain lion. The creatures periodically take up large sticks and bng rhtymically on large trees, then pause looking toward the sky as if they expect to hear a reply. By the end of the film, as one of them succombs to a deadly accident, we wonder if we are witnessing the extinction of the species—though there is also a birth. There are no subtitles, other than the four that announce the seasons, so the filmmakers show great respect for the viewers’ ability to figute things out,

The thick suits of hair and makeup make it all but impossible to identify the major stars Jesse Eisenberg and Riley Keough, except in an occasional close-up. Christophe Zajac-Denek and Nathan Zellner play the other members of the family. Thus the film avoids the laughability of the get-up in other Big Foot films. Through their eyes and gestures the actots make us believe in these creatures and come to care for them. There are no humans depicted, though their presence is seen—in one sequence the family comes upon a campsite, which they explore and trash. There also a road cut through this northern California forest.

This Big Foot film puts to shame the man other Sasquatch films, many of them in the horror genre. Depicted as a part of Nature with feelings and emotional relationships, the film led me o reflect upon the title that includes “sunset” rather than “Sunrise.” It truly would be a trgedy if we were inded being shown their demise. Such is the magic of the Zellner brothers.

 This review is in the May issue of VP along with a set of questions for reflection and/or discussion. If you have found reviews on this site helpful, please consider purchasing a subscription or individual issue in The Store.