from Drew Deitch
| Updated
2024 is coming to an end and it’s time for everyone to start putting together their Best Of lists. After the disastrous success of Evilmany critics and moviegoers are predicting that it could be a legitimate contender for the Oscars for Best Picture. The $150 million production is the usual mainstream offering that has been called the best movie people have seen in a year. That’s thanks to it being one of a handful of monopolizing multiplex mega-studio blockbusters that are crowding out more original and independent films. If audiences had more awareness and open-mindedness about the best movies of 2024, they would discover that the best movie of the year actually costs 1/1000 of Evilthe huge budget of the current industry standard.
The best movie of 2024
Hundreds of beavers is an independent comedy film that cost $150,000 to produce. Drawing inspiration from silent comedies, formative black-and-white cartoons, and even video games, Hundreds of beavers tells the deceptively simple story of a hapless man named Jean Caillac, who must ultimately survive the winter wasteland by becoming a fur trapper. It boils down to such incredibly crafted madness, as Gene finds himself at war with nature and its inhabitants (mostly beavers, but the title spoils that). You’d be doing them a disservice by trying to dictate all the jokes and banter here. Hundreds of beavers it really has to be seen to be believed.
What I can tell you here is Hundreds of beavers is the best film of the year not only because it’s an entertaining display of multi-level expert craftsmanship, but also because it stands in stark contrast to the studio system and demonstrates that true creativity is often the realm of independent creators.
Originality from inspiration
While not a measure of the quality of any individual film, the overwhelming prevalence of non-original films has become a serious problem with my enjoyment of popular cinema. I have to define “unoriginal” in this context. Let’s take a look at the current top 20 box office grossers of 2024. and see if we can come up with a definition:
Of these, sixteen are sequels. Of those sixteen, ten of them are not direct sequels, meaning they are the third entry or later in the franchise. When it comes to the four non-continues, one of them is Evilpart 1 with a sequel. And only one of those four non-sequels is an original screenplay that wasn’t adapted from a previous work. Yes, when it comes to a completely original film that performs well at the box office, IF is number one.
So what does this have to do with it Hundreds of beavers? One of the reasons it’s the best movie of 2024. is how it manages to take inspiration from popular media and present it in a way that feels really fresh. Instead of “referencing” to create his art, he mixes all the things he loves into a new dish. You won’t see a Triforce symbol anywhere in the movie as a promotional link (hell entire movies are just commercials for video games at this point), but you’ll touch on the film’s use of video game visual language like menu selection and world maps. Felix the Cat doesn’t appear so that someone can earn a few royalties and go unrecognized by any modern viewer, but the silent animation era of anarchic possibility informs so much of what he does Hundreds of beavers a riot of laughter.
But why bring up the comparison with Evilthe budget of? Because it’s not simple Hundreds of beavers being original makes it the best movie of 2024. There are a lot of original movies this year that are excellent! That’s what Hundreds of beavers achieves with such a relatively small amount of funds that elevates it to number one.
Creativity despite the cost
I have not seen Evil so I won’t criticize anything about this movie other than what I saw in trailers and other promotional material. specifically, Evil’s approach to cinematography looks like most of the high-end commercial and advertising cinema we see surrounding the biggest advertising campaigns. That’s not to say it “looks bad” at all, but it does look uninspiring in the wider landscape of cinema. Part of that is because it has the backing of a massive studio, and studios are becoming more risk-averse when it comes to more impressive and stylistic films.
Compare this with Hundreds of beavers independently financed and what the film medium can use to do with much relatively less. I’m not trying to downplay (I’m sure I’ve overplayed) the work of the VFX artists and other craftsmen behind Evilbut i look Hundreds of beavers pulling off such ingenuity on 1/1000th of this film’s budget is more energizing for the future of cinema than another disruptive blockbuster.
Do not take this piece as “Evil nasty!” putty. I haven’t watched it so I don’t know if it’s gross or not! But when we start all this annoying buzz about awards, don’t forget that the best movie of 2024. is a small work of art made for a thousand Evil.
