{ "id": "epypnyjpxg", "slug": "sasquatch", "title": "Sasquatch", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted", "label": "Unscripted, reality, and web-native series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual", "label": "Documentary, docudrama, and lifestyle series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.true_crime_docuseries", "label": "True crime and investigative docuseries", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.true_crime_docuseries" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.true_crime_docuseries.yr-2006-2022", "label": "Premiered 2006 to 2022", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.true_crime_docuseries.yr-2006-2022" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.true_crime_docuseries", "label": "United States · 2021 and later: True crime and investigative docuseries", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.true_crime_docuseries", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021", "label": "United States · 2021 and later", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted", "label": "Unscripted, reality, and web-native series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual", "label": "Documentary, docudrama, and lifestyle series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.true_crime_docuseries", "label": "True crime and investigative docuseries", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.true_crime_docuseries" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Sasquatch (2021) is a three-episode Hulu true crime docuseries, also called the Sasquatch murder documentary, directed by Joshua Rofé, in which journalist David Holthouse investigates a 1993 Mendocino County triple homicide blamed on Bigfoot.", "snippet": "Sasquatch (2021) is a three-episode Hulu true crime docuseries, also called the Sasquatch murder documentary, directed by Joshua Rofé, in which journalist David Holthouse investigates a 1993 Mendocino County triple homicide blamed on Bigfoot.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.true_crime_docuseries.yr-2006-2022", "markdown": "# Sasquatch\n\n*Sasquatch* is a three-episode American true crime documentary series that premiered on Hulu on April 20, 2021, in which investigative journalist David Holthouse reopens a twenty-eight-year-old report of a triple homicide in [Northern California](https://www.edgepedia.org/northern-california) that locals attributed to the legendary ape-like creature Bigfoot, also called Sasquatch[1](https://www.hulu.com/series/sasquatch-6ddd5226-6a50-4bba-aa1c-391b76180b48). Directed by Joshua Rofé and produced by [Duplass Brothers Productions](https://www.edgepedia.org/duplass-brothers-productions), the series uses the monster story as an entry point into the cannabis economy and violence of the region known as the [Emerald Triangle](https://www.edgepedia.org/emerald-triangle)[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-04-20/sasquatch-hulu-docuseries-duplass-brothers) • [3](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/television/sasquatch-04-19-21).\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Format | Three-part documentary series, TV-MA, one season, Hulu original[1](https://www.hulu.com/series/sasquatch-6ddd5226-6a50-4bba-aa1c-391b76180b48) |\n| Premiere | April 20, 2021, on Hulu; first episode screened at SXSW 2021[4](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/sasquatch) • [5](https://www.dreadcentral.com/interviews/390658/sasquatch-director-joshua-rofe-now-talks-weed-murder-bigfoot-exclusive/) |\n| Central subject | David Holthouse, an investigative journalist of more than 25 years with a background in gonzo journalism[6](https://www.slashfilm.com/580595/sasquatch-director-interview/) |\n| The case | A fall 1993 report that three men on a Mendocino County cannabis farm were killed and torn apart by a creature; the crime was never reported to police[7](https://time.com/5956264/weed-tv-shows/) |\n| Director and producers | Joshua Rofé, director; executive producers Mark Duplass, Jay Duplass, Mel Eslyn, Rofé, and Holthouse[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/sasquatch) |\n| Reception | 93% Tomatometer and 54% Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/sasquatch) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### The story the series investigates\n\nIn the fall of 1993, Holthouse, then 23 years old, was visiting a weed-growing friend in Mendocino County when two terrified men arrived at the house claiming that three field workers at a nearby cannabis farm had been found torn limb from limb, their heads ripped from their torsos and their parts strewn around the campsite. The men insisted this was no drug heist, and the rumor took hold that Sasquatch was the killer. The crime was never reported[7](https://time.com/5956264/weed-tv-shows/) • [2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-04-20/sasquatch-hulu-docuseries-duplass-brothers). None of the crop was stolen or destroyed apart from stalks crushed as the men were killed[9](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/apr/19/sasquatch-joshua-rofe-documentary-bigfoot).\n\nDecades into a career that had included high-risk investigations of neo-Nazis and, most personally, the man who sexually assaulted him as a child, Holthouse decided to find out what, if anything, had happened that night[7](https://time.com/5956264/weed-tv-shows/). His reporting moves from Sasquatch believers and self-described Sasquatch hunters into the region's drug underworld, where some informants appear only blurred with altered voices, and the name of the alleged killer is glitched out of the audio and covered with the on-screen text \"ALLEGED KILLER\"[10](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/sasquatch-movie-review-2021). The series concludes that the terrors of the backwoods are human rather than monstrous, touching on the War on Drugs, racism, xenophobia, and the exploitation of immigrant labor[7](https://time.com/5956264/weed-tv-shows/) • [10](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/sasquatch-movie-review-2021).\n\nThe setting is the Emerald Triangle, a swath of Northern California wilderness across Mendocino, Humboldt, and Trinity counties known for its natural beauty, marijuana production, and Bigfoot sightings[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-04-20/sasquatch-hulu-docuseries-duplass-brothers). Most accounts place the 1993 farm in Mendocino County; *The New Yorker* describes the killings as having occurred in rural Humboldt County[3](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/television/sasquatch-04-19-21).\n\n## Production\n\n**Origin of the project.** In February 2018, director Joshua Rofé, who had just made the docuseries *Lorena* about the Lorena Bobbitt case, wanted a subject about which no publicly available information existed. His friend and producer [Zach Cregger](https://www.edgepedia.org/zach-cregger) recommended the podcast *Sasquatch Chronicles*, a collection of interviews with people recounting encounter stories; Rofé, initially uninterested, listened to eleven episodes in four days and was struck by the visceral, authentic fear in the callers' accounts[9](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/apr/19/sasquatch-joshua-rofe-documentary-bigfoot) • [5](https://www.dreadcentral.com/interviews/390658/sasquatch-director-joshua-rofe-now-talks-weed-murder-bigfoot-exclusive/).\n\nRofé then texted Holthouse, a colleague, asking whether a murder mystery wrapped up in a Sasquatch story might exist. Holthouse replied, \"I love it. I got one. I'll call you in five,\" and recounted the story he had heard in person in 1993 of a sasquatch killing three people on a weed farm in Northern California[6](https://www.slashfilm.com/580595/sasquatch-director-interview/). Rofé has said he was not hung up on whether Bigfoot exists; the fear in the encounter stories and the human world behind them became the subject[9](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/apr/19/sasquatch-joshua-rofe-documentary-bigfoot).\n\n## The creature behind the title\n\nThe Sasquatch, interchangeably known as Bigfoot, is a folkloric hairy biped of the [Pacific Northwest](https://www.edgepedia.org/pacific-northwest); the Washington Post notes the name Sasquatch is taken from indigenous cultural phrases, while Bigfoot comes from supposed footprint evidence[11](https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/04/20/sasquatch-hulu-series-takeaways/). One account traces the name to the Vancouver Island Salish word Sasquits, from the original se'sxac, meaning \"wild man\"[12](https://www.themainstreet.org/uploads/3/4/1/9/34190018/ms_october_2024_ol.pdf). A US Patent and Trademark Office filing summarizing the series states that it describes marijuana farmers telling stories of Bigfoots harassing and killing people in the Emerald Triangle from the 1970s through the 1990s, and specifically the alleged murder of three migrant workers in 1993[13](https://tmng-al.uspto.gov/resting2/api/casedoc/cms/case/98724365/office-action/OfficeAction7223677.pdf).\n\n## Reception and availability\n\nThe first episode premiered at SXSW 2021, and the full series arrived on Hulu on April 20, 2021[5](https://www.dreadcentral.com/interviews/390658/sasquatch-director-joshua-rofe-now-talks-weed-murder-bigfoot-exclusive/) • [4](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/sasquatch). Reviewers noted the bait-and-switch structure: the series opens as a monster mystery and becomes a character study of Holthouse and an investigation of a lawless rural economy. RogerEbert.com called it a true-crime documentary of a rare breed, nerve-racking, dangerous, and truly scary[10](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/sasquatch-movie-review-2021). On Rotten Tomatoes the series holds a 93% Tomatometer and a 54% Popcornmeter[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/sasquatch). It streams on Hulu and Disney+[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/sasquatch).\n\n## References\n\n1. [Sasquatch, Hulu series page](https://www.hulu.com/series/sasquatch-6ddd5226-6a50-4bba-aa1c-391b76180b48)\n2. [Weed culture. True crime. Bigfoot lore. 'Sasquatch' has something for everyone, Los Angeles Times, April 20, 2021](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-04-20/sasquatch-hulu-docuseries-duplass-brothers)\n3. [Sasquatch, The New Yorker, April 9, 2021](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/television/sasquatch-04-19-21)\n4. [Sasquatch, Parents' Guide & TV Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/sasquatch)\n5. [Exclusive: SASQUATCH Director Joshua Rofé on Weed, Murder & Bigfoot, Dread Central](https://www.dreadcentral.com/interviews/390658/sasquatch-director-joshua-rofe-now-talks-weed-murder-bigfoot-exclusive/)\n6. ['Sasquatch' Director Joshua Rofé Shares The Dangerous Details Behind The Enthralling New Hulu True Crime Series, SlashFilm, April 20, 2021](https://www.slashfilm.com/580595/sasquatch-director-interview/)\n7. [3 New Stoner-Friendly TV Series to Watch on 4/20, Time, April 20, 2021](https://time.com/5956264/weed-tv-shows/)\n8. [Sasquatch, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/sasquatch)\n9. ['I am now truly afraid of the woods': behind the hunt for Sasquatch, The Guardian, April 19, 2021](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/apr/19/sasquatch-joshua-rofe-documentary-bigfoot)\n10. [Sasquatch movie review & film summary, RogerEbert.com, April 20, 2021](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/sasquatch-movie-review-2021)\n11. ['Sasquatch': 3 takeaways from the new true-crime series, The Washington Post, April 20, 2021](https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/04/20/sasquatch-hulu-series-takeaways/)\n12. [The Main Street journal (October 2024), on the origin of the name Sasquatch](https://www.themainstreet.org/uploads/3/4/1/9/34190018/ms_october_2024_ol.pdf)\n13. [USPTO Non-Final Action, case 98724365](https://tmng-al.uspto.gov/resting2/api/casedoc/cms/case/98724365/office-action/OfficeAction7223677.pdf)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Documentary, docudrama, and lifestyle series › True crime and investigative docuseries › Premiered 2006 to 2022*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/sasquatch", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/sasquatch.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Sasquatch\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/sasquatch. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Sasquatch](https://www.edgepedia.org/sasquatch)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/sasquatch](https://www.edgepedia.org/sasquatch). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Sasquatch\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/sasquatch. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Sasquatch is a three-episode Hulu true crime docuseries, also called the Sasquatch murder documentary, directed by Joshua Rofé, in which journalist David Holthouse investigates a 1993 Mendocino County triple homicide blamed on Bigfoot." }