From director Seth Breedlove and the Small Town Monsters team comes another excellent documentary in the “On the trail of…” series. This time, instead of aliens or the Bell Witch, we focus on one of the most famous cryptids of all time, Bigfoot.
On the Trail of Bigfoot: The Journey is a 95-minute exploration of the mystery surrounding Bigfoot. However, one of the things that set this documentary apart from most others of its kind is that it is made clear from the very beginning that the team has no doubt that Bigfoot exists. There is no debate over whether or not the mysterious creature is out there.
Now, this may give you pause to wonder if that doesn’t skew the narrative and make this a sensationalist piece desperate to prove it, grasping at the slightest straw as evidence. However, while I expected as much myself, I was quite pleased to discover that it was quite the opposite.
The documentary follows Seth and his team on a week-long expedition to the Adirondack mountains and their surrounding forests. Despite not being the most well-known area for bigfoot sightings (at least not to people with a casual interest in the cryptid), the number of sightings in the Adirondacks and nearby towns such as Whitehall is quite staggering.
The team interviews various witnesses about their experiences as well as teaming up with various groups of investigators, such as Squatchachusetts, looking at what little evidence there is, while almost all of them have had their own experiences. This, along with maps of sighting locations that seem to indicate a possible migratory pattern make for some compelling evidence absent from other similar documentaries.
While it presents all the experiencers’ encounters as real, it never once sensationalizes them. As you follow the teams on their night hikes into the forests in hopes of finding some evidence or encountering one, nothing is presented as an overly dramatic or exciting moment.
All of this helps to keep the documentary grounded and firmly rooted in real research and exploration. The fact that the documentary is also set against the backdrop of the worldwide Coronavirus pandemic also makes it feel less abstract in a way. This is happening now. Despite how dark the world might seem right now, there is still magic out there, things to be passionate about even if others think you are being foolish.
The Journey is the perfect addition to the title because as much as the film is about Bigfoot, more importantly, it is a story about people. It is about Seth and his team on their journey to the Adirondacks and what they hoped to find, it is the story of all the experiencers’ journeys since Bigfoot became a reality in their lives. This also gives the documentary a heart that most similar documentaries lack.
To lovers of the paranormal and cryptozoology, this is a must-see documentary. While there may be less excitement and fewer sensational reactions or discoveries, the passion and conviction of each person will, at the very least, make you question your own skepticism while looking at this as possibly one of the most compelling Bigfoot documentaries out there.
