Sasquatch Sunset

Sasquatch Sunset is a 2024 American absurdist fantasy drama film directed by David Zellner and Nathan Zellner, written by David Zellner, and starring Riley Keough, Jesse Eisenberg, Christophe Zajac-Denek, and Nathan Zellner. The film follows a family of sasquatch over a period of one year. Ari Aster served as an executive producer under his Square Peg banner.
It had its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2024. The film was released by Bleecker Street on April 12, 2024.
== Plot ==
In the early 1990s, four nomadic Sasquatches—the brutish alpha male, the sole female, her son, and another male—live in the forests of Northern California. The alpha frequently has sex with the female, and the group performs rituals where they drum with branches in hopes of getting a response from other Sasquatches. 
During springtime, the female rejects the alpha's advances and he pulls a load-bearing stick from their shelter in an attempt to have sex with it. The group chases him off and he eats a poisonous mushroom, trying to have sex with a mountain lion while under its influence. The child finds the mountain lion eviscerating the alpha and alerts the other sasquatches, although they don't figure out until the next day; the group buries him. 
Now summer, the male becomes the new alpha and the visibly pregnant female arouses him, but she rejects his requests for sex. They encounter a tagged tree and later a road, which they mark with urine and feces out of fright. They encounter a tagged log in a river, which the male stands atop and falls off of, getting his legs stuck underneath. The female and the child fail to help the male escape, helplessly watching as a current rolls it onto his chest, trapping and drowning him; the remaining two bury him afterward. 
In the fall, the Sasquatches come across a campsite while its owners are out. When the female figures out how to play "Love to Hate You" from a boombox, she and the child are emotionally overcome by the power of the music and eventually wreck the site in a fit of rage; the child throws a frisbee at the female's stomach and causes her water to break. They flee and try to find something to eat before the female abruptly gives birth to a baby. The mountain lion approaches, but she distracts it with the baby's placenta and they leave. 
Now winter, they steal a penned chicken and the mother saves the child from a bear trap. The baby almost asphyxiates in its sleep until the mother resuscitates it. They see a forest fire and many chopped trees, and eventually wind up in Willow Creek as spring approaches. They encounter a Sasquatch statue outside the local museum, trying and failing to communicate with it. 
== Cast ==
==Production==
In August 2022, Jesse Eisenberg announced his involvement in the film as an actor and producer, with David Zellner and Nathan Zellner directing. He stated to Entertainment Weekly, "In full makeup. In full body hair. No lines, I grunt, but no lines, and I'm so looking forward to this." Principal photography took place in Northern California in 2022.
To help the cast prepare for their roles, Eisenberg brought in movement coach and mime coach Lorin Eric Salm, whom Eisenberg had trained with to play French mime artist Marcel Marceau in the feature film Resistance. Prior to filming, in what was dubbed "Sasquatch School" or "Ape Camp", Salm worked with the actors to explore Sasquatch behavior and to establish consistent movement for the creatures so that they would all appear to be of the same species. Drawing inspiration both from primates and from Bigfoot lore, he helped them find a balance between human and ape-like movement. The work included creating a walk, learning animal behavior, developing non-verbal emotional expression, and exploring how a Sasquatch might interact with unfamiliar objects. The movement sessions also focused on nuances of daily Sasquatch life and their manner of eating, and it was during this training period when their vocalizations and forms of communication were chosen.
==Release==
Sasquatch Sunset had its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2024. Prior to this Bleecker Street acquired distribution rights to the film. It also screened at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival on February 19, 2024, as part of the Berlinale Special section, and South by Southwest on March 11, 2024. It was released in limited theaters in the United States on April 12, 2024, before going wide a week later. In the UK it is scheduled to be released by Icon Film Distribution on June 14, 2024.
==Reception==
 
==See also ==
*Quest for Fire, another film similar in nature
== External links ==
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== References ==
Category:2024 films
Category:Films Starring Jesse Eisenberg
Category:Films Starring Riley Keough
Category:Films Starring Christophe Zajac-Denek
Category:Films Starring Nathan Zellner
Category:Surreal comedy films
Category:American fantasy drama films 
Category:2020s fantasy drama films 
Category:Bleecker Street films
Category:Films without speech
Category:Bigfoot films