A “Sasquatch Sunset” Review

First, a confession. I was a little baked when I saw this movie at the Mayan Theater in Denver. My memories may be a bit hazy (and the pot may have influenced my feelings about the film) but putting that aside, I kind of loved “Sasquatch Sunset” and it far exceeded my expectations.

Admittedly, those expectations weren’t very high (unlike myself). When the movie first crossed my radar back in January, I’d heard that people had been so disgusted by the film at Sundance that they’d walked out in the middle. I’d read reviews saying the movie was nothing but toilet humor, that there was no dialogue, and little plot to speak of. That it was 90 minutes of inanity and weirdness.

I had no plans to see it—actively resisted even the idea of going. But on a cold weekend evening, when Denver seemed like it would never get out from under winter’s thumb, I didn’t have anything else to do and that seemed as good an option as any, especially given the movie choices available.

Honestly? It was pretty great. I loved the lack of dialogue, the stunning landscape shots, the animal cameos, the simplicity of it. There is a plot—it’s not elaborate or complicated; you just have to be paying attention. It helps that I’ve spent many years now in and around the Bigfoot world and know some of the inside jokes. I wonder how many people at Sundance knew what a tree knock was. (If you’d like to know, check out Season One of Wild Thing.)

But even more than that, there was kind of a poignancy to the film—a sense of a changing world in which some species win out and some definitely do not. I did not anticipate that I’d still be thinking about the movie weeks after seeing it and yet here I am.

So go see it. Or stream it. Or however you watch movies these days. Yes, there is toilet humor and some of it is truly stupid, but on the whole I’d give it a thumbs up. Maybe even two.