As a comedy, this imagined recreation of what a family of the mythical Bigfoot species might do over the course of four seasons places its bets for laughs on behavior that we associate with the ruder persuasion of humanity. The difference, of course, is that sasquatch are by definition wild animals that only partly resemble humans, and the directors, David and Nathan Zellner, see this association as an opportunity to explore the human id for all it’s worth. They don’t give us much to work with—it’s difficult to distinguish the older child from the paterfamilias, though our prejudices tell us the one who consistently tries to rut with the obvious female is probably the dad, but that’s a prejudice I wouldn’t want to stake my life on, since at one point one of the presumed children makes a move on mom. (The actors include Riley Keough and Jesse Eisenberg, but I couldn’t tell you which is which.)

Still, besides the visible genitalia, each of the four members does have an attribute that seems to be distinctive in a human-adjacent way, and which makes for some original slapstick. The younger child, for instance, likes to kiss other animals and earns his/her comeuppance when attempting to meet cute with a snapping turtle. A lot of the action is incomprehensible. Though they don’t possess what we would call language skills, their grunts and hoots do convey meaning of some sort, but the occasional rhythmic beating on trees doesn’t make much sense. I imagine it may be a means of trying to flush out others of their kind—it’s hard to imagine they won’t quickly become extinct given their rather poor decision-making capabilities. One consumes some magic mushrooms with unfortunate results, and another, playing on a log in a river, suffers the same fate as the father in Ken Kesey’s Sometimes a Great Notion, but without the heroics. 

The weirdest scenes are those showing the sasquatch encountering human civilization. Happening upon a paved road, they freak out, pissing and shitting hysterically. Similarly, when they confront a vacant campsite it’s as they’d seen a ghost. The message seems to be that it’s tough to be hairy and bipedal, mainly because no one gives you much respect, including your fellow woodland creatures, most of whom ignore you or, if it’s convenient, eat you, but in all likelihood, the Zellners seem to say, you had it coming just by existing. 

Now playing in Tokyo at Shinjuku Piccadilly (050-6861-3011), Human Trust Cinema Yurakucho (03-6259-8608), Human Trust Shibuya (03-5468-5551).

Sasquatch Sunset home page in Japanese

photo (c) 2023 Cos Mor IV, LLC