Watching a small clan of sasquatches mosey throughout nature, facing all its unpredictability for an hour and a half is quite possibly one of the strangest concepts for a film ever dreamt up. And on the strange and ridiculous front, co-directors and brothers David and Nathan Zellner’s surreal nature comedy Sasquatch Sunset, DEFINITELY delivers. A-list actors parading around in sasquatch costumes puking, mating, pissing, and shitting all over the forest? Yeah, if you don’t get anything else out of Sasquatch Sunset, the mental images of sasquatches violently releasing their various excrements will themselves into your brain while you wince through laughter. (You’re welcome.)
Feeling almost like a National Geographic documentary, Sasquatch Sunset is an education on the primitive and intellectually innocent nature of the mythological sasquatch as it follows the small clan made up of Jesse Eisenberg, Christophe Zajac-Denek, Nathan Zellner, and Riley Keough (the sole female in the group with hands-down the best performance). They venture like primate vagabonds through the forest doing what any ol’ sasquatches would do – eat, mate, lounge, explore, and communicate through grunts and other ape-like vocalizations. But sometimes their impulsive curiosity can get the better of them when they encounter things like psychedelic berries and traces of human invasion on their home.
The suits – the glorious suits! In the time we live in where motion capture dominates the film industry with some pretty impressive looking animation – like the most recent reboot of the Planet of the Apes franchise – Sasquatch Sunset, instead, pleases those who prefer the old-fashioned way: sticking very famous actors in some very fantastic-looking and superbly REALISTIC-looking sasquatch suits and prosthetics. And the results are more than wonderful – sometimes disgustingly so.
Yes, there is more than plenty to laugh and wince at for the entirety of the picture, but Sasquatch Sunset does also surprise with some very poignant and ardent commentary. With traces of human activity stumbled upon by the sasquatches throughout the picture ranging from a cut down tree to a paved road to a camp site and even more destructive acts, you spend a good chuck of the movie anticipating a confrontation between humans and the sasquatches. And though many of the initial interactions the sasquatches have with each of these things tends to be hilarious in the most ridiculous or ridiculously gross way possible, it doesn’t stay that way the whole picture when the humans’ invasion, and eventually colonization, becomes a great danger to the sasquatch and their home. Sound familiar?
The draw of the picture is definitely the absurdity, (and trust me, there is more than enough to enjoy), but despite the picture only being a crisp ninety minutes, it does seem to drag on a bit, falling victim to a bit of a repetitive nature. But Sasquatch Sunset is great in giving you pretty much what you’re expecting from it, plus the filmmakers leave you with something to chew on. I do hope that those poor sasquatches do make it.
Sasquatch Sunset is now playing in select theaters.
Home Video Distributor: Decal Releasing
Available on Blu-ray - May 28, 2024
Screen Formats: 2.39:1
Subtitles: English SDH
Video: MPEG-4 AVC; 1080p; 2.39:1
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; Audio descriptive
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A
The fine folks over at Decal releasing bring the absurdist humor of Sasquatch Sunset to sparkling 1080p with an exquisite blu-ray release of the film.
Sure, the subject matter won't appeal to the tastes of everyone, but the release unquestionably offers a fine example of what the format can offer.
Accompanying the film on the disc is but a single bonus item.
Video
Set entirely in what is believed to be the deep, dense wilderness of the Great Northwest, the MPEG-4 AVC 2.39:1 1080p encode is perfect for the subject matter and setting of the film as the flora and fauna offer infinite layers of detail to be realized. And the encode is up to the task with perfectly rendered elements (primarily hair and foliage) that are always sharp and crisp.
Particularly mesmerizing are the artistry and details of the hair and make-up on display by work from the makeup department. In 1080p, there's no room for sloppiness, and they nailed it!
The film's color palette is limited, predominantly to greens of the leaves and grass, and browns of the creatures' matted hair, and they always remain true to form. Just a beautiful film to behold on your home video system.
Audio
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is fantastic and what better setting to get that immersive world of 5.1 than a forest. Noises and sounds of nature bathe the room in a full 360-degree sound stage that plops us right in the forest with the creatures.
There is no dialogue (replaced by an assortment of grains and grunts), so can't comment on that, but must say the grunts and groans do come through clearly and even feature some side to side action at times.
Supplements:
There is but a single bonus item included.
Commentary:
- None
Special Features:
- Sasquatch Birth Journal #2 - (04:14) Makes us laugh! They said #2.
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MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime: 89 mins
Director: David Zellner; Nathan Zellner
Writer: David Zellner
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg; Riley Keough; Christophe Zajac-Denek
Genre: Action | Adventure | Comedy
Tagline:
Memorable Movie Quote:
Distributor: Bleeker Street
Official Site: https://www.sasquatchsunset.film/
Release Date: April 19, 2024
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: May 29, 2024
Synopsis: A year in the life of a unique family. It captures the daily life of the Sasquatch with a level of detail and rigor that is simply unforgettable.
