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Britannica Encyclopedia defines Sasquatch as “a large, hairy, humanlike creature believed by some people to exist in the northwestern United States and western Canada.” The Sasquatch is basically North America’s version of the Yeti.

But in the film “Sasquatch Sunset,” starring Jesse Eisenberg and Riley Keough, the fictional creatures become the subjects of a nature documentary-esque odyssey through a forest. This absurdist and surreal comedy, directed by Nathan and David Zellner, focuses on a family of four Sasquatches. Over the course of a year, the film portrays how the Sasquatches can share similar qualities and experiences as humans. While the film maintains the cold, indifferent randomness of the wild, it still subtly displays the human condition.

The film may lean too much into its bit, where the cast acts and looks exactly like Sasquatches, but it’s an overall fun, outrageous and intriguing outdoor experience.

To become a Sasquatch, Eisenberg worked with movement coach Lorin Eric Salm, the same coach Eisenberg worked with on the 2020 film “Resistance,” in which he played French mime artist Marcel Marceau. He and the cast went to “Ape Camp,” where they learned and hashed out the Sasquatch’s half-man, half-apelike movements.

Eisenberg and Keough perfectly mimic the creature’s footsteps, grunts and physicality. The actors become so unrecognizable in the film that viewers must have the cast list on their phones as they watch to identify the characters.

They eventually settle into acting like the monkeys in “2001: A Space Odyssey,” setting up plenty of raunchy and humorous sequences. The scenes range from the four Sasquatches trying to get rid of a snapping turtle, to the male Sasquatch (Eisenberg) and female Sasquatch (Keough) having sex while the child Sasquatch (Christophe Zajac-Denek) and alpha male Sasquatch (Nathan Zellner) watch in horror.

Through these comedic performances, the film explores how these creatures can have human experiences, create emotional bonds with one another and delve into their more violent nature.

From the start, the alpha male Sasquatch is a brute who wants to form a sexual relationship with the female Sasquatch. But when the female Sasquatch repeatedly rejects his advances, he destroys the group’s shelter and embarks on his own before he eats a poisonous mushroom and gets eaten by a mountain lion.

The alpha male’s ill-fated journey is one of the closest moments that the Zellner brothers use of the Sasquatches to describe the human condition. The directorial duo posits that the violent and sexual insecurities of men will only perpetuate more violence, selfishness and pain.

For the rest of the film, the Zellners show how the Sasquatches’ inherent violent and random nature can create a delicate balance between life and death, further building empathy with the audience. Keough’s character, who takes on a motherly role in the film’s latter half, portrays this balance by displaying genuine, relatable emotion, making the actress’ performance the best out of the four actors.

At the same time, though, the film’s repeated raunchy Sasquatch jokes become stale and the movie starts to concern itself too much with making a connection between the beasts on screen and the humans watching.

Midway through the movie, the youngest of the Sasquatches starts to communicate with his hand, serving as the first indication that the species is relatively advanced and adjacent to humans. But the added humanlike actions become an obvious and hollow statement from the filmmakers that these creatures deserve our understanding and empathy.

Still, the film wisely avoids humans’ direct presence, instead showing signs of humanity through abandoned campsites, chopped-down trees and a forest fire. The indirect references to people inhabiting the wilderness create a much more evocative and powerful statement on the Sasquatches’ relationship to a species they don’t know exists.

There is a moment when the female Sasquatch and the child Sasquatch encounter a campsite and find a boombox playing “Love to Hate You.” The song causes the two to violently react and storm off. The inventions of man cause great harm to these creatures and their natural environment.

The film may feel distant at times and seem to have mixed messages, but the Zellner brothers effectively create empathy and sympathy for the Sasquatches. But then they reveal how these creatures are essentially victims of an unseen force that makes them into a mythical and terrifying legend. The directors argue not just for the audience to understand, but implore them to live a simpler and more communal life.

Published on April 29, 2024 at 8:41 pm

Contact Henry: henrywobrien1123@gmail.com