If you’re a fan of the prehistoric prologue from “2001: A Space Odyssey” then “Sasquatch Sunset” might just be the film for you.
The film follows four Sasquatch through the seasons of a single year. The group, a kind of nuclear family, includes a recently impregnated female, who will give birth before the conclusion of the story; an alpha male; a somewhat-inept beta male; and a child.
The group is nomadic, living on vegetation and bugs—and in some cases, still experimenting with plants that can make them sick or drunk or high.
While the film starts as a sober-faced documentary, it’s soon clear that the filmmakers are out to expose, with often-comic abandon, the creatures’ misadventures, sexual escapades, and other graphic depictions of what a Sasquatch will do in the woods.
However, they’re also capable of human behavior. They work together to build shelters. They bury their dead and even mourn them. One of the adults struggles to master the concept of “counting”. And the child even has what you might consider—an imaginary friend!
The speculations about Sasquatch's life are intriguing, though not always convincing. When the creatures stumble onto evidence of human civilization, they’re clumsy, confused and show no inclination at all to be elusive. Why these creatures weren’t captured long ago and displayed on cable news, I don’t know.
“Sasquatch Sunset” was co-directed by brothers David and Nathan Zellner, who have appeared at Sundance before. David wrote the film, and Nathan appears as one of the Sasquatch.
The creature design is by Steve Newburn. The other actors buried underneath the make-up include—believe it or not—Jesse Eisenberg, Riley Keough (veteran actress and granddaughter of Elvis) and diminutive actor Christophe Zajac-Denek.
“Sasquatch Sunset” may not be your cup of tea. But for its full-bore commitment to a story that is bizarre, funny and sad, I’m giving it four grunts out of five.