Vague Visages’ Hundreds of Beavers review contains minor spoilers. Mike Cheslik’s 2022 movie features Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, Olivia Graves and Wes Tank. Check out the VV home page for more film reviews, along with cast/character summaries, streaming guides and complete soundtrack song listings.

*

As the brother of a real-life Midwestern fur trapper, I appreciate the heart and soul of Mike Cheslik’s Hundreds of Beavers. During a brutal 19th century Wisconsin winter, an applejack salesman transforms into a survivalist, hoping to acquire enough hides to secure an engagement with a trader’s daughter. The slapstick epic feels somewhat overwhelming during the first act, due to a variety of visual gags and an overall explosion of creativity; however, Hundreds of Beavers becomes more accessible as Cheslik slows down the pace to thematically underline the nuts and bolts of the focal hero’s journey, all the while referencing silent cinema classics.

Hundreds of Beavers’ headliner, Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, fits the part as protagonist Jean Kayak with his lumberjack physique. The actor’s physical comedy punctuates various first act jokes as his distinctive moan of frustration complements and contrasts surrealistic moments of hunting exhilaration. A woodpecker not only pokes away at Jean’s head, but also targets scheming beavers who get tricked by the protagonist’s improvisational traps. Hundreds of Beavers’ tragicomic opening act also includes a subtle reference to Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island (2010), which precedes subsequent homages to the Buster Keaton film Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928), Charles Chaplin’s Modern Times (1936) and Sidney Lumet’s 12 Angry Men (1957). As Jean runs a circular trap line through the Wisconsin woods, Cheslik pairs situational comedy with Super Mario Bros.-themed sound design to inform the audience of the protagonist’s beaver hide acquisitions. Meanwhile, a female character known as The Furrier romantically pursues Jean, with actress Olivia Graves frequently stealing the show via classic Hollywood looks and graceful physical humor.

Hundreds of Beavers Review: Related — Know the Voice Cast: ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’

Cheslik’s situational comedy and surrealistic execution is majorly impressive. Hundreds of Beavers’ script, co-written with Tews, plays out like a traditional silent cinema production, though the filmmakers don’t shy away from edgy humor. Many animals experience nasty deaths, which in turn grounds the fantastical comedy in realism. And though the pole-dancing furrier perhaps doesn’t align with the times, a seduction sequence spotlights Graves’ movie star potential. If Tews delivers plenty of ha-ha humor in Hundreds of Beavers, his female co-star elevates the overall comedy through some truly memorable acting, with one particularly risqué sequence infusing the film with some extra edge.

Hundreds of Beavers Review: Related — Soundtracks of Cinema: ‘Dancing on Glass’

Escalating stakes — and not just for Jean — make Hundreds of Beavers a helluva watch. Meaning, a group of beavers revolt against the protagonist, which allows for some Sergei Eisenstein-like filmmaking as the movie reaches its climax. And Cheslik keeps pushing forward with his situational humor, which ultimately leads to a brilliant chase sequence that’s both wildly entertaining and full of cinematic nods to the past. Decades after the release of the Coen brothers’ Fargo (1996), most people familiar with the film presumably remember the climactic woodchopper scene; in Hundreds of Beavers, there’s similarly both literal violence and implied violence as Jean finds himself in beaver court and on a literal chopping (sawing) block.

Hundreds of Beavers Review: Related — Know the Cast: ‘3 Body Problem’

Hundreds of Beavers is one of those movies that’s tough to pin down in a review, primarily because of the overall artistry. The world-building is next-level, and the overall filmmaking execution would make both Keaton and Chaplin weep with joy. Hundreds of Beavers stands on its own as one of the best rollercoaster-like films of the 2020s, but there’s also potential for a silent cinema-themed series starring Tews and Graves. As a Fargo native, I’d love to see Jean and The Furrier search for a briefcase full of money in the North Dakota snow (or maybe even on my fur-trapping brother’s rural Minnesota property).

Hundreds of Beavers premiered at Fantastic Fest 2022 and began a roadshow tour in Canada and the United States during January-March 2024. 

Q.V. Hough (@QVHough) is Vague Visages’ founding editor.

Hundreds of Beavers Review: Related — Soundtracks of Cinema: ‘Society of the Snow’