Hulu’s Sasquatch documentary explores the legend and the truth behind the cryptid Bigfoot, including the famous short film that allegedly captured the creature on camera. The documentary begins with the story of three cannabis farmers in California whose bodies were found torn apart in the woods, leading some people to speculate that they were murdered by Bigfoot. The investigation into this murder then probes into any potential truth behind the story, starting with the well-known Patterson-Gimlin film.
In 1967, Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin were riding on horseback through the woods of Northern California, a spot Patterson chose because of reports of Bigfoot sightings and footprints in the area, when they claim to have spotted a large figure on the opposite bank of the river, supposedly the mythical creature Bigfoot. Patterson retrieved his camera and ran toward the figure, filming about one minute of footage of a large, fur-covered bipedal creature walking by them. According to Patterson and Gimlin, the encounter lasted less than two minutes before the creature disappeared around a bend.
Both men denied accusations that the film was a hoax, though many people who saw the film thought the creature looked like a human wearing a gorilla suit. Patterson died in 1972, still maintaining the footage was real, and Gimlin states that while it possibly could have been a hoax, he was not involved. Dozens of people have since claimed to be the man who wore the suit in the footage, and costumer Phillip Morris claimed to have designed and created the creature suit, but the details of their accounts often conflict and none of them have brought forward definitive proof to debunk the film yet.
Many investigators have tried to either authenticate or debunk the film. Many cryptozoologists and anthropologists who have analyzed the film agree that it’s likely the film was a hoax with a man in costume, but could not conclusively prove that it was not a non-human creature. Several film and special effects experts stated that they could duplicate the creature in the film, but it would take a lot of money and time. An actor would also have to be trained to recreate the creature’s distinctive walk. If Patterson and Gimlin or someone else executed this hoax, they spared no effort or expense.
The mystery of the Patterson-Gimlin film has endured for over 50 years. Most analysts still doubt the validity of the footage, but debunkers have never found the proof they need to discount it for good. The subject of this famous film is only one of the many questions Sasquatch explores in its quest to solve a murder and discover a cryptid.