SASQUATCH SUNSET
I levelFILM I April 19, 2024 I
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Lars Knudsen, George Rush, David Zellner, Nathan Zellner, Tyler Campellone, David Harrari
Directed By: David Zellner, Nathan Zellner
In the misty forests of North America, a family of Sasquatches—possibly the last of their enigmatic kind— embark on an absurdist, epic, hilarious, and ultimately poignant journey over the course of one year. These shaggy and noble giants fight for survival as they find themselves on a collision course with the ever-changing world around them.
REVIEW BY: Kurt Morrison
RATING 1.5 out of 5
A critical darling out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Sasquatch Sunset may go down as one of the most experimental comedies of the last 20 years, driven completely by writer-director duo David and Nathan Zellner’s commitment showcasing the absurd and the fact they got two Hollywood heavy hitters to dress up like Bigfoot for the entirety of a film.
The premise is simple - the film follows a family of Sasquatch over the period of one year, as they navigate the wilderness and inner workings of the group including scourging for food, playtime and sex. On paper, it’s a very funny idea and I can't believe it hasn’t already been done.
By the end of this review, you will understand why it hasn’t been done.
The first 15 minutes of the film were admittedly hilarious and I had an absolute blast with it, because it felt like such a unique and fresh take on some sort of National Geographic documentary with a completely satirical and hypersexual look at what are essentially neanderthals. Between the shifty eyed awkwardness displayed by two of the four of the Bigfoot clan while the other two having loud and awkward sex, to the following moments where one of the young Sasquatches gets bitten on the tongue by a turtle, I actually found myself uncontrollably laughing at what I was seeing as it harkened back to a slapstick style of comedy I grew up on where physical comedy in simplistic situations can be paydirt.
NOT only slapstick but costumed slapstick.
THIS IS A GROUP OF ADULTS WEARING BIGFOOT COSTUMES IN THE MIDDLE OF A FOREST, NOT SAYING WORDS.
Director Nathan Zeller is joined by Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network) and Riley Keough (Daisy Jones and The Six) and their adherence to acting through their eyes and their large, crass, vulgar movements was genius and you can see everyone is having a blast filming this because of how unique a comedy it is.
Guys, I was a believer. I started mixing the Sasquatch Sunset Kool-Aid. I was sure this was going to be one of the funniest things I had ever seen.
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So where did it go wrong?
Well, the saddest part of Sasquatch Sunset is in its repetition followed by its trying to be something that is actually supposed to be serious.
Truthfully, I am a man child at heart so dick, fart and poop jokes will never not be funny to me. But Sasquatch Sunset just decides to do the ‘rinse and repeat’ cycle on several of its jokes throughout its lean 89 minute runtime. The punchline of a Sasquatch getting an erection is funny once…. even twice. But on the fourth or fifth roll of the same dice, I actually found myself just kind of rolling my eyes, bracing for impact.
As I said, the hijinks and antics of an overly sexualized Sasquatch is incredibly funny, but not when it feels like it just reuses the same joke for the sake of reusing it. Even if it had been used in a different manner or funny context, it would have landed the joke more effectively. But sadly the script, or lack therefore of, basically does a copy-paste a few times leading to its own demise.
About forty five minutes in, its decision to go down an existentialist route was welcomed - simply because the other comedic aspects stopped working.
Then insert a moment of Sasquatch Diarrhea along with a Vaginal birth scene……
Okay - I let it pass then continuing along, with what actually becomes a very different look at their exploration of all things human. Roads, music, campsites, deforestation, confusion. Kind of funny but once again, staying a bit too long. Every once in a while packing a lighthearted laugh. I began thinking to myself what would have been a funnier version of this kind of film, and thought of a few ideas like the insertion of a Morgan Freeman toned narrator, making this feel like a total rip on something like March of the Penguins from back in 2005. Even sticking to the heavy handed dick and sex jokes and creating a consistency in the comedy could have salvaged it.
Sasquatch Sunset will likely get its 15 minutes of fame when it comes out this week or when it hits Netflix in a few months and I applaud the home run swing taken by all those involved. It is always great to see an Indie film get some attention shined on it. The commitment to the prank of being in Bigfoot costumes never gets lost through the movie, but unfortunately Sasquatch Sunset’s comedy timing, tone and overall story become terribly muddled and it all quickly falls off the rails.