You may have heard that it stars Jesse Eisenberg and Riley Keough—not that you’d know it, since they’re covered in prosthetic fur the entire time. Or that the movie, which opens in theaters on Friday, contains no human language, only grunts and screams. Or that it involves gross enough bodily functions that some audience members at the Sundance Film Festival, where it premiered in January, raced for the door.
What you might not have heard, though, is that it’s a very funny and surprisingly moving look at an endangered species from their perspective as humanity steps in. When I saw it at Sundance, audience members fell out of their seats laughing and ran out of the theater screaming like sasquatches. It’s a movie that, if nothing else, demands to be seen, at least so you can know where you stand on the love-hate divide. We spoke with the Zellner brothers and Eisenberg to answer all your burning questions. Sasquatch forward!
Yes, for “sexual content, full nudity and gory imagery.” You see masturbation and lots of sex, plus some death and dismemberment. David laughs when he thinks about how the MPAA gives this rating: “It’s funny because there’s obviously no bad language. But I like the R-rated description because it’s like full nudity – not partial nudity – but it’s all mythical creature nudity.
Eisenberg, on the other hand, says he was “pissed off” because he’s been in a lot of violent movies that probably deserved an R but were written off without one. “It’s just frustrating because it limits the audience,” he says. “I really think 13-year-old Jessie would have given up on a movie like this. Young teenagers are just a lot more open, I think.
The Zellners have been obsessed with sasquatch lore since they were kids, and even made a silent short at Sundance in 2011 called “Sasquatch Birth Journal 2,” starring Nathan as a mother squatting in a tree to give birth. (He plays the alpha male Sasquatch in that film.) Most Bigfoot movies are family movies or horror movies from the human perspective, “and the Bigfoot/Sasquatch is relegated to the background as a kind of boogeyman,” says David. Instead, they wanted to make a heartfelt 89-minute film fully immersed in the Sasquatch world that is part drama and part slapstick comedy. “There’s so much in this movie that if you see your dog or cat doing it, it’s completely normalized,” says David. “But when you see these creatures with human qualities, suddenly it becomes much more uncomfortable and also funny.”
The actors spent 25 days in the same Northern California forests where the famous 1967 Patterson-Gimlin film was shot, launching the image of the Big Step as we know it, along with generations of conspirators. Coincidentally, this area is also the epicenter of Big Step sightings in the United States.
Why cast actors instead of, say, stuntmen?
Eisenberg had the same question and was confused when the Zellners, whom he had known for years, gave him the script. He had just assumed they would go with professionals who were great with physical movement. But within five pages, he says, he realized how emotional the film was and how it would require actors who could pull off comic timing and body language that needed to be funny and clear.
Also, let’s face it, it’s a bit of a stunt to cast Keough and Eisenberg and then cover them in prosthetics and fur. “Saying these names and then not seeing them – there’s an absurdity to that as well,” says David.
Why is Jesse Eisenberg in this?
Not only does he star, he’s also a producer! As a millennial who lives in New York and is the child of animal rights activists, he says he relishes the chance to reconnect with nature.
Plus, he immediately bonded with the (unnamed) beta male character he would eventually play. “If I was a sasquatch, that’s what I’d be,” he says. “I’ll be the one looking at the trees when I’m walking, not just someone aggressively looking for their next meal.” I would be the one who, when I ask the female to mate with me, do it timidly and with a bouquet of ferns, unlike the alpha who just jumps in.” He was also touched by his character’s efforts to count alone in his spare time. He tries to get to five, but only manages to get to four.
And what about Riley Keough?
The short answer seems to be that Eisenberg talked her into it. They worked together when she produced his 2023 film Manodrome, about a bodybuilder who goes on a shooting rampage. Eisenberg knew she loved quirky projects and had some free space in her schedule. “Riley is one of those unusual actresses who is more comfortable in extremis, is that the right phrase?” says Eisenberg. “She’s a wonderful, natural actor, but she’s more comfortable in roles that require some kind of extreme behavior.”
Her only request to the Zellners was that she be “the wildest,” she told Collider.
How did they understand the movements and language of the Sasquatch?
The actors did what Eisenberg calls “Sasquatch boot camp,” hiring a mime coach, Lorin Eric Salm, who studied under Marcel Marceau. First, they practiced movements in Zoom, such as grabbing food with their hands rather than their fingers. They then spent months moving around their own homes. The first time they got together, “we were just rolling around on the floor in an office in Northern California, eating ferns and hitting each other with sticks,” Nathan says. The goal was to make the look feel cohesive, as if they weren’t four different interpretations of a sasquatch.
The language was simple: they just decided to yell and growl to correlate with certain actions or directives. “What they do is very repetitive,” says Eisenberg. “Their life is a harrowing story of survival, but the activities they do are quite similar every day. Basically, someone finds a good berry and tells others to come.
What was it like shooting in those suits in the middle of the forest for 12 hours a day?
Physically, the experience was “excruciating,” says Eisenberg. They would spend two hours applying glue, prosthetics and yak hair to their faces, then slip into a tight, heavy suit. Eating lunch was too difficult, and specially equipped bottles were simply required to drink water
The flip side “carried this wonderful art project,” Eisenberg says. “You’ll be really exhausted and feel claustrophobic to the point where you think you’re going crazy, and then you’ll look in the mirror and just think, I am so lucky.“
Is Nathan Zellner directing as Sasquatch?
Absolutely! Most of the time, it made sense for him to get dressed in the morning, even if he didn’t have a scene planned for the rest of the day, “which makes for really interesting behind-the-scenes shots,” he says.
They filmed in a deep, deep forest and used portable toilets. “We couldn’t wear our good sasquatch legs in the bathroom,” Eisenberg says, noting that bathroom breaks involve complex costume changes, such as removing legs and heads.
Fortunately, he says, they didn’t have to walk often because they sweated so much. “Any liquid we’d drink would immediately pour over our bodies, beating the industrial-sized amount of baby powder that was poured over our pants every morning to soak up the sweat.”
What happened when civilians came upon the set?
Most of the people who drove by were loggers. “Every time we came across someone, they were very puzzled,” says David. “It was like, ‘Oh yeah, another Big Step.’
It occurred to Eisenberg that the actors should wear orange vests when walking from their trailers to the set, “because if anyone’s going to get shot, it’s going to be the four people who look like Sasquatch.”
Do you have to be killed to enjoy it?
Eisenberg says no! “The Sasquatch Sunset is actually the most interesting thing you will ever see. So you can save your money and just go sober.
