It’s the 19th century, and when his applejack distillery is destroyed spectacularly, frontier hero Jean Kayak (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews) must face the perils of the frosty wilds — not least the small army of deranged beavers who are plotting something deep within the forest.
If you predicted that one of the most entertaining films of the summer would be a deranged $150,000 comedy about a man battling beavers in the frozen north, then congratulations, you are more prescient than us. Much like a stealthy Castor canadensis bent on munching its way through tasty oak, this film seems to have materialised out of nowhere — only aficionados of micro-budgeted 2018 film Lake Michigan Monster, the previous collaboration between Ryland Brickson Cole Tews and Mike Cheslik (and another tale of marauding animals, in that case a crafty aquatic beast), will have seen it coming.
Yet come it has, and we’re glad it has, because Hundreds Of Beavers will surely prove one of 2024’s most surprising joys. Essentially The Revenant meets the Road Runner, it’s more-or-less indescribable, but try to imagine a black-and-white survival tale, powered by relentless sight gags and video-game sound effects, in which a hero — Tews, as the splendidly named Jean Kayak — faces down an army of human-sized beavers, which are clearly people in furry suits.
If you tune into its wacky wavelength and pure energy (think early Sam Raimi or Peter Jackson), you’ll have a blast.
Joyfully confident and hugely inventive, the film barrels along from silly set-piece to sillier set-piece, depicting a rough arc in which an initially useless Kayak gradually learns the way of the forest, all the time following its own wacky internal logic. Whenever a creature dies, for instance, its eyes are replaced by Xs — an eccentric touch which in no time seems quite sensible and normal. The DIY computer effects create a surreal world in which the rules of physics (and frankly biology and chemistry too) are frequently twisted, if not downright snapped. If you tune into its wacky wavelength and pure energy (think early Sam Raimi or Peter Jackson), you’ll have a blast.
It’s not perfect — the 108-minute runtime is frankly too long for something this non-stop loco, and it sags a little in the middle. But come the fabulous final reel, in which Kayak ventures into the beavers’ dam — think a Bond-villain lair, but a lot more lumber-y — and gets tangled up in a log-flume chase which riffs on Temple Of Doom, it’ll be hard to keep a smile off your face.
A hit at film festivals, where people have dressed up in beaver-suits for the occasion, this is one to see with a crowd if you can. If you view it solo, we recommend beer — or applejack cider. Either way, ig-gnaw it at your peril.
A tale of pelts that pelts along, with more lunacy and creativity than a brace of other films, this film dares to go full beaver. Don’t sleep on it.