Silly, twisted humor and hairy disguises make this Bigfoot tale interesting.
We’ve stories about the legend of Bigfoot. We’ve seen photographs of him walking. We’ve even seen movies like “Harry and the Hendersons” or “Missing Link.” So, why not make another movie? Or better yet, why not make a movie that basically depicts how they would go about their lives in the forest? Maybe we can make this dialogue-free, but give them some human characteristics? And what about their personal hygiene? They can crap and piss anywhere they want, because they’re practically animals.
“Sasquatch Sunset” is that movie, and I can see the polarizing responses with some disillusioned by the gross-out gags and others praising it in an honest and funny sense. I’m one of those critics who was laughing and amazed at how far the Zellner brothers-David and Nathan (“Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter,” “Damsel”) are willing to go.
There are four members of this pack of Sasquatch, and they’re all portrayed by Riley Keough, Jesse Eisenberg, Christophe Zajac-Denek, and Nathan Zellner, all disguised by make-up, yak hair, and prosthetics. Here’s how you can tell it’s them. Zellner as the alpha male is distinguished by his forehead and eyebrows; Eisenberg’s face is somehow merged within the make-up and his sounds are recognizable; Keough has blue eyes and is the only woman in the tribe, so there has to be breasts; and Zajac-Denek stands at 4’4, thus making him the shortest.
It can be disillusioning when some of them have to be killed off and how they have to damage a family camping ground. But it can also be funny and poetic when you read between the lines of the life of Sasquatch. It takes place during the course of one year, how they survive in the Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.
Speaking of “dialogue-free,” even when you see a camping ground or a road, you won’t find any people. Just this tribe peeing, crapping, growling, grunting, and avoiding a cougar. Don’t act like this is the first movie to cut back on the speaking. And plus, it doesn’t need to drop F bombs for comedy gold. It can either be strange and honest and add some slapstick in the mix.
The Zellner brothers don’t need to take the easy way out, especially when they examine how a Sasquatch would behave. And Ari Aster is credited as an executive producer, so it would make sense for some of the film’s twisted behaviors.
In regard to the film’s choice of gross-out comedy, I’m starting to wonder if independent movies are actually giving the subject better taste than how mainstream comedies have been handling them lately. Like how two years ago, I saw “Triangle of Sadness” when people were vomiting and crapping on a cruise. I’m not sure if I’m being precise about this matter, but the excrement and puke are supposed to be handle in an honest sense. But anything is miles ahead of how Chris Pratt crapped all over a car in “Movie 43.”
Besides, “Sasquatch Sunset” isn’t indulged in that kind of humor. It’s handled with an R-rated sense, like how we get a sex scene, a buddy scene, a hallucination scene, and a turtle scene that looks oddly familiar.
Again, I’m sure there are those who like it or dislike it, but I’m one of those who liked it, especially when we don’t need to have Eisenberg or Keough covered in CGI. Just a bunch of hair.
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