It’s just that the humor is pitched at such a strange register, somewhere between poignant and Sas-scatological - as in the scene where Foot family members defecate in their hands and sling the turds at the birds picking at a tragically deceased relative.īelieve it or not, “Sasquatch Sunset” is told in such a way that you feel for these beasts, experiencing genuine concern when the latest addition to the family stops breathing, and possibly even shedding a tear when Eisenberg’s “Tender” character (who takes time to interact with the local wildlife) gets trapped beneath a giant log. But unlike the unintentionally hilarious Life Day segment from “The Star Wars Holiday Special” (spoken entirely in the Wookiee tongue), “Sasquatch Sunset” is funny by design. To the creatures’ (and performers’) credit, they bark, snarl and hoot, all of which has been scripted and performed with a seriosity that borders on the comedic. Amid such meretricious competition, “Sasquatch Sunset” seems poised to become the most popular live-action Bigfoot movie since “Harry and the Hendersons,” if only for the sheer curiosity value.Īdd to that the novelty of observing this (imaginary) nomadic species forage, feed, fart and fornicate in their natural habitat for a year without uttering a single word. Few if any register with the general public in what amounts to one of the nichest genres (one that lends itself to low-budget movies, given the shaky-cam Patterson-Gimlin footage that started it all).

Top of that roster: Ari Aster, whose artistic partner Lars Knudsen was chief enabler on this highly eccentric project - which is admirable for the absurdist earnestness with which it was created.įun fact: Every year, at least a dozen Bigfoot movies are made, most of them either horror movies or crackpot docs. In case you were wondering, the joke is that the film exists at all … because who would finance, much less star in, an 88-minute portrait of these apocryphal brutes? The late-arriving punchline comes with the end credits, when the names Riley Keough and Jesse Eisenberg appear beside blurry photographs of Mama and her sensitive, tree-hugging son, followed by a list of 25 executive producers. Thirteen years later, the siblings return with “ Sasquatch Sunset,” a one-joke feature that leaves the amateur videographer gimmick behind, committing itself to tracking a year in the lives of a Sasquatch family of four - let’s call them Big Foot, Mama Foot, Tender Foot and Buster (the runt of the litter). In 2011, they brought “Sasquatch Birth Journal 2” to the Sundance Film Festival, a four-minute faux nature documentary in which a hirsute creature can be seen giving birth to an equally furry infant. Austin-based indie directors David and Nathan Zellner have spent more time thinking about Sasquatch than most filmmakers do musing about human beings.

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