The Zellner Brothers, David and Nathan, have an obsession with Bigfoot. I don’t think that’s too crazy to say. Their fascination with the mythical forest beast was first put on display in the 2011 short Sasquatch Birth Journal 2. Picking up where that left off is Sasquatch Sunset, a film the Zellners described vaguely before its world premiere at Sundance as “a year in the life of a singular family.” You have no idea how many people came to me after and were surprised that its title wasn’t a misdirection, and that it actually does follow a year in the life of a family of sasquatches.
It’s par for the course for the Zellners to upset expectations. I was a late-comer to their 2012 film Kid-Thing, only discovering the duo with 2014’s Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter which I loved. In 2018 they returned to Sundance, where all of their films have premiered, with the dark western comedy Damsel with Robert Pattinson and Mia Wasikowska. I’ve found that each movie both acknowledges the genre they’re in while also subverting it in unconventional ways.
In Sasquatch Sunset, we follow a foursome of sasquatches, including two played by Riley Keough and Jesse Eisenberg buried under suits of fur, as they interact with the natural world in a deadly and comedic fashion. David plays one of the group, and I got to talk with him about wearing the fur suit, and finding his inner Bigfoot. Together, the Zellners spoke with me about their fascination with sasquatches, what inspired this particular story, and how challenging it was to find the humanity within these legendary beasts.
Sasquatch Sunset is in select theaters now, and expands on April 19th. Check out my interview with the Zellners below!
