Movie Review // Sasquatch Sunset (Bleecker Street)

 Please be advised that the only way to accurately review this film is with spoilers.   Read ahead at your own warning.

When I first saw a trailer for "Sasquatch Sunset" on Instagram I didn't think it was a real movie.  I thought it was some kind of joke, some kind of prank being pulled on the masses and it wasn't until I actually looked it up that I realized it was, in fact, a real life movie.   As soon as the opportunity came for me to see it in theaters, I did just that.   My goal for this review is to discuss the film more than the complaints others have had about it, but I feel like I must do both at times.

This film does start with two of the Sasquatch creatures having sex.   It's not pretty.  But, that's nature.   That is the only time that there is a sex scene in this movie, though I will say right away that I understand the people who walked out because they thought this movie was too gross.   From the hanging penis feature to the murder by a puma or something to the Sasquatches just pissing and shitting in the street... this movie is gross at times, but so is nature.

The way I look at this movie is like a nature documentary about the Sasquatch.  "But Sasquatch isn't real".   I don't care.   This is a movie.  Within these 89 minutes, Sasquatch is real, regardless of whether or not you believe in him otherwise.  And everything that happens in this movie, I believe would happen in an actual nature documentary.   Nature is just cold and unpredictable.

The seasons play a big role in this film as they start off in Spring.  I assumed when I saw that we would go through all four seasons, but Spring was definitely the longest and it felt like I had almost forgotten about that part by the time Summer came.  Much of this film feels like the suspense of waiting for these Sasquatch to die.  I'm not sure why, but I had it in my mind that the Sasquatch were going extinct and this was that story-- the sunset was their final curtain call.

We start with four Sasquatch then go down to three, then two, then back up to three.  The main Sasquatch at first- who appears to be the alpha male- literally gets drunk on berries, trashes a tent the rest of the family made because he wants to mate with a stick (when denied by the female), wanders off into the forest, has a bad trip, tries to mate with a puma and is mostly eaten instead.   Yes, that all unfolds and it does so with the use of only grunts and no dialogue.

The second death in this film comes when the other male adult Sasquatch is atop a telephone pole that is in the water, he slips and falls off and then the pole slides over the lower half of his body.   As the other two try and free him, the pole ends up sinking further into the water, burying him even deeper to the point where he is fully underwater and essentially drowns.   Again, a lot of this film is waiting to see how these Sasquatch die and they don't disappoint.

More than anything else this movie really made me think about the animalistic side of nature.   Even if you don't think about Sasquatch, think about an animal such as a deer.  How does a deer know not to eat a certain berry because it's poisonous?  How does one deer convey the message to another deer of "Don't eat that or you'll die" and if deer travel in packs and no one in the pack knows that, how do they come to know it without dying?  

Aside from my newfound appreciation and curiosity towards nature and that which isn't civilized, this film has a strong message of just trying to find your own kind.   Throughout the movie (and I feel like those who didn't like the film might have missed this bit) the Sasquatch spend time banging on trees and making vocal sounds.  Most people might just think "That's weird, why did they do that?" but if you notice the young one did it when he found the alpha male dead.  They are doing it simply to find more of their kind.

The fact that the movie starts with four Sasquatch and they're looking for more Sasquatch also makes me think this is toward the end of their existence and they are about to become extinct.   Though they have their own language and are ape-like, I just don't feel like they're very smart even though there could be some argument that they are.   

A scene exists in this film as well where the mother and son Sasquatch stumble upon a camp site where there aren't any humans but were.   They go through all the stuff and eventually press play on a boombox, which brings out a song they both dance and cry to while listening.  This is on a cassette (which is later torn apart by a raccoon) and I very much like that.  But you also have that suspense of the humans coming back combined with the ultimate question of where they are-- did they just go hiking for the day or are they off dead somewhere?

"Sasquatch Sunset" makes you think.  It makes you ask questions.  You have to really pay attention to it- actually watch it- because not everything is so easily laid out for the viewer because there is no dialogue.  It is gross, yes, as the alpha throws up and the mother eventually gives birth, but that's just nature.  The visuals are stunning, the soundtrack is hypnotic and it had everything I could possibly want in a movie.   This was not just one of the best movies I've seen this year, this is one of the best movies I've ever seen.   If you don't understand it, that's fine, but it's brilliant.