‘Sasquatch Sunset’ Review – Riley Keough Monkeys Around in Hilarious and Fascinating Gross-Out Comedy | Berlinale 2024

Without a doubt, Sasquatch Sunset is a one-of-a-kind film that will surprise audiences around the world. No one is prepared for what Damsel directors David Zellner and Nathan Zellner deliver with this film, in what could be an observational nature documentary if sasquatches were real… or are they?

The film begins by introducing four sasquatches, situated in a North American mountain range covered in dense forest. They are hairy, scruffy creatures that have primal, ape-like instincts as they migrate and explore their local area. They live in what is supposedly a human-free world, as no one crosses paths with the so-called mythical animals, but signs of habitation begin to arise as they discover new territories.

They travel in packs, with two of them being a supposed couple and the other two tag along, seemingly all part of the same family. They have no boundaries, acting on their primal instincts in ways that will make you awkwardly chuckle. All the disgusting things you can imagine are exactly what they do. But as tensions rise between the two alpha Sasquatches, the balance of the group is upset leading to a change in their journey across North America.

Lathered in prosthetics and great furry costumes, the cast is wholly unrecognisable. Riley Keough is a standout, and arguably the lead Sasquatch as she has the most screen time. Not a word is spoken and yet, Keough is so emotive with her eyes which act as a gateway to the soul of her character. It’s one of the only features of the actors that’s on show, apart from their movement and animal-like noises which also say a lot and contribute to the comedy of it all. Jesse Eisenberg and the rest of the cast put in great physical performances, all of the comedy comes from the way they react to things. It’s ridiculous that they managed to get top talent involved in such a peculiar film, but perhaps the uniqueness of it is what sold them the project. Imagine the actors getting into character, for weeks at a time, shooting a movie in Bigfoot costumes and not speaking a word, madness.

As the film opens and we’re introduced to the ape-like animals, one instantly questions the insane reasoning behind why the film even got funded as it’s basically an observational piece following the daily lives of a mythical primate. But as the comedy gets going, watching their ridiculous actions becomes a good laugh. The question of whether humans exist in this world remains a vivid idea in the spectator’s mind, allowing for continuous attention across the Zellner brothers’ slender 90-minute-long feature. The runtime doesn’t drag on and ends at the perfect point. It’s not all fun and games as the film definitely has a couple of seriously disturbing scenes for some, it should come with a trigger warning.

The filmmaking is unobtrusive and filmed almost like a David Attenborough nature documentary. It Follows and Us cinematographer Mike Gioulakis shoots the film with an eye for nature and light, there are plenty of beautiful nature-focused shots that neatly convince us of their reality. The score is heavy on brass instruments and bizarrely warps as things spiral out of control.

The interaction between the fictional and the real is also truly fascinating, seeing the sasquatches fight mountain lions, smelling skunks and petting badgers is oddly exciting. This continues as they discover traces of humans, but they struggle to adapt to the changes to their normal habitat. One scene that stands out and perfectly represents this is when they stumble across a cut-down tree in the watermarked with a red X. The sasquatches are bewildered at the sight of it and become curious about the log’s tree rings, but not before trying to walk across it which leads to great consequences. Their desires and curiosity always get the better of them, after all, they are primal.

Sasquatch Sunset feels like a bit that Saturday Night Live would do but with a higher budget and top-notch actors. The Zellner brothers fully commit to the skit, going all the way with endless gross-out humour, extremely detailed prosthetics and a story that sees these Sasquatches spiral towards their dissolution. Audiences will either hate it for its carefree absurdity or love it for being the utterly whacky film it is.

Rating: B+

This review is from the 74th Berlin International Film Festival where Sasquatch Sunset screened in the Berlinale Special section.