As art movies go, "Sasquatch Sunset" stood out not for being original but for being bold. It also had a distinct film-school vibe - actors are often asked to pretend to be different animals or birds.
This family story was just that. It involved a family of Sasquatches, actual versions of which resemble the Tibetan Yeti and are rumoured to roam secretive forest regions in the USA.
The way in which David and Nathan Zellner captured that secret life, using adequate dramatizations and fictional flourishes, made "Sasquatch Sunset" run like a wildlife documentary at times.
I especially liked the attention to primate-lifestyle detail - especially gorillas and chimps - that further enriched this script and gave it a primal yet relatable sheen.
The Sasquatches' experiences also featured the looming threat of human encroachment via logging, highways, camps, traps, and townships. These elements were especially telling.
Jesse Eisenberg (as the male Sasquatch), Riley Keough (as the female Sasquatch), Christophe Zajac-Denek (as the kid Sasquatch), and Nathan Zellner (one of the writer-directors himself as the alpha-male Sasquatch) were so natural, for lack of a different word, that they made their beastly characters seem compelling instead of caricatured.
The experimental design of these four core characters and the wilderness they called home evoked distinct feelings of simplicity, freedom, and honesty. The creatures also possessed sufficient intelligence to make their motives feel credible.
Outstanding practical effects and makeup added to the wonder in "Sasquatch Sunset". The team seemed to have used educated guesswork to re-enact a small chapter in the life of a Neanderthalic 'missing link' species that was humanoid enough to behave human.
Some of the scenes were so raw and disgusting, but that was precisely what made those scenes work. The movie went to some intriguing places I didn't quite expect, resulting in shameless (in a good way) storytelling that crossed the right boundaries to tell this tale.
Near the finale, I couldn't help but feel the word 'Sunset' in the title was referring to the end or extinction of the Sasquatches and, in close connection, the forests they called home.
This family story was just that. It involved a family of Sasquatches, actual versions of which resemble the Tibetan Yeti and are rumoured to roam secretive forest regions in the USA.
The way in which David and Nathan Zellner captured that secret life, using adequate dramatizations and fictional flourishes, made "Sasquatch Sunset" run like a wildlife documentary at times.
I especially liked the attention to primate-lifestyle detail - especially gorillas and chimps - that further enriched this script and gave it a primal yet relatable sheen.
The Sasquatches' experiences also featured the looming threat of human encroachment via logging, highways, camps, traps, and townships. These elements were especially telling.
Jesse Eisenberg (as the male Sasquatch), Riley Keough (as the female Sasquatch), Christophe Zajac-Denek (as the kid Sasquatch), and Nathan Zellner (one of the writer-directors himself as the alpha-male Sasquatch) were so natural, for lack of a different word, that they made their beastly characters seem compelling instead of caricatured.
The experimental design of these four core characters and the wilderness they called home evoked distinct feelings of simplicity, freedom, and honesty. The creatures also possessed sufficient intelligence to make their motives feel credible.
Outstanding practical effects and makeup added to the wonder in "Sasquatch Sunset". The team seemed to have used educated guesswork to re-enact a small chapter in the life of a Neanderthalic 'missing link' species that was humanoid enough to behave human.
Some of the scenes were so raw and disgusting, but that was precisely what made those scenes work. The movie went to some intriguing places I didn't quite expect, resulting in shameless (in a good way) storytelling that crossed the right boundaries to tell this tale.
Near the finale, I couldn't help but feel the word 'Sunset' in the title was referring to the end or extinction of the Sasquatches and, in close connection, the forests they called home.
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