Breathtaking Sasquatch Sunset Views: A Review

A Sasquatche family creates a comparatively quiet life for themselves in a redwood forest in North America. However, the advance of human civilization is rapidly approaching.

Bigfoot, the hairy, seven-foot mythology icon, has not had many positive media portrayals; instead, he has mostly been a hilarious cinematic character. Consider Jack Black's delusions about the Sasquatch (portrayed by an uncredited John C. Reilly in Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny), Harry and the Hendersons, or the tragic "King Itchy" from Monsters, Inc. The film Sasquatch Sunset, directed by brothers David and Nathan Zellner, is a strange and strangely beautiful retelling of the Bigfoot tale that is completely different from any of other versions.

It's filmed almost like a parody of a BBC nature documentary, contrasting vast sky and Californian redwoods with the struggles of a tiny community of Sasquatches attempting to make ends meet in a strange and harsh environment. Among them are the almost unrecognizable A-list actors Riley Keough and Jesse Eisenberg, who bravely groan through bulky prosthetics while pulling off amazing performances from a screenplay devoid of any words. With sporadic Sasquatchian screams and jazz riffs from experimental soundtrack artists The Octopus Project, the movie runs nearly entirely silently.

Expect crap, shit, sex, sick, engorged penises, and fish guts being gurgled into mouths as the Zellners explore the animalistic side of these fabled monsters with great pleasure, thanks to their crypto-zoological approach to the characters. Of course, this will turn off a large portion of the audience, but if you can get beyond the filthy humor in it all, there is something humorous about it all. However, even in situations like these, when a Sasquatch hires a crude wooden dildo, it seems true to the film's purpose to show these ape-like creatures as shameless and self-aware. It seems so close to us, yet it's also so far away.

Some really tragicomic grace notes may be discovered among those ostensibly immature moments. The ceremonial slamming of sticks by Sasquatch suggests a need for social interaction with other members of their kind. They never hear back. A road or a sinister red "X" painted on a tree are examples of benign signs of human civilization that point to something harmful and sophisticated that may endanger their way of life. However, they don't appear to be able to fully understand or appreciate the danger. Particularly, one lone Sasquatch seems to be approaching a deeper comprehension; human advancement is destined to surpass them. It becomes evident when the very poignant ending bows that the "sunset" of the title is more than simply a sparkling skyline—rather, it signifies the end of something.

Sasquatch Sunset is a brilliantly obscene picture about made-up creatures from children’s books — yet it is also a horribly mournful adult drama about the tragedy of development. What a poignant, one-of-a-kind, wonderful little cult freak.