Summary
A curious film that combines stunning visuals and bold humour, but struggles with pacing, resulting in a memorable yet uneven cinematic experience.
Every year, there seems to be ‘that film’ on the festival circuit. It’s not the critical darling, nor is it necessarily the award winner. Yet it’s undeniably one of the films that many people wind up talking about, either because it inspired walkouts, seat squirming or uncomfortable laughter. SASQUATCH SUNSET has a little of each in equal measure.
Still, from the opening shots of David and Nathan Zellner’s singular experience, it’s clear that the Zellner Bros (TV’s The Curse) have a vision. Michael Gioulakis’s pristine photography of the misty wooded areas of the Northern California/Pacific Northwest region of the US are simply stunning, gently introducing us to a forest world inhabited by a family of four sasquatch. Then they start rutting, shifting the film into one of only two gears it seems capable of handling.
Yet by the 20-minute mark, it already feels as though the Zellner’s have said all they wanted to say on the subject. Which is an impressive feat in a film that’s mostly free of dialogue. This is one of the curses of expanding on earlier short film material, as the Zellner’s play with the same concepts that Sundance audiences saw over a decade earlier in the short film Sasquatch Birth Journal 2 (2010).
SASQUATCH SUNSET could be a lot of things. It might be a showcase of top-notch acting with prosthetics, with Riley Keough and Jesse Eisenberg completely disappearing into their roles. It could also be making a statement about colonisation or the disappearing wilderness. Sometimes, it’s like an absurd take on toxic masculinity in our society. But more often than not, it feels like a stoner comedy. For instance, there’s this long gag where the sasquatches freak out about a road, and it drags on for what feels like ten minutes.
Which is a criticism that could be labelled at the film as a whole. For all of its individual charms and achievements, an extended sequence of sexualised ‘shroom rage – or another literal pissing contest – squanders some of the good will earned. Which is a shame, because the combination of gorgeous visuals and The Octopus Project’s somewhat epic score needed something a little more robust to sustain them.
As we leave our sasquatch friends on a note of observational satire, it’s still hard to say who or what the Zellner Bros’ film is ultimately for. It’s a bold experiment crafted with technical prowess, but some uneven pacing and overextended gags make this more memorable for its audacity and its potential.
2024 | USA | DIRECTOR: David Zellner, Nathan Zellner | WRITER: David Zellner | CAST: Riley Keough, Jesse Eisenberg, Christophe Zajac-Denek, Nathan Zellner | DISTRIBUTOR: Sydney Film Festival 2024, Bleecker Street | RUNNING TIME: 88 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 5-16 June 2024 (SFF 2024)
