A drunken applejack maker must go from zero to hero and become North America’s greatest fur trapper by defeating hundreds of beavers. A film by Mike Cheslik, starring Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, Olivia Graves, Wes Tank, Doug Mancheski, and Luis Rico.

Jean Kayak (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews) is an applejack farm owner who makes and serves applejack to the travelers. He also likes to drink, dine, and party with his guests. One day, a beaver sabotages Jean’s giant applejack kegs, as one keg rolls away (The beavers actually steal one keg, which will reappear later in the film.) and the other keg destroys his entire applejack farm.

Jean is knocked out by the explosion and finds himself awakened in a snowy forest. We don’t know how long Jean’d been unconscious, but now has a beard and wears different apparel. Jean returns to his farm only to discover it’s been completely destroyed by fire. With nowhere to go, he’s forced to endure the snowstorm alone in the forest. He manages to make a fire but ends up burning himself. Hunger gnaws at him, and he attempts to catch a rabbit, but his lack of hunting skills leads to miserable failure.

After failing repeatedly to catch rabbits, Jean gives up and sets his sights on two beavers carrying a log near the river. However, not only does he fail to catch a beaver, he ends up being beaten violently by the angry beavers. Next, Jean attempts to steal woodpecker eggs laid in a nest above a tree. He throws a snowball at the nest, but nearly gets stabbed by falling icicles. Eventually, he manages to climb the tree and steal the nest, but he’s forever followed by the vengeful woodpecker. Now, every time Jean whistles, the woodpecker appears and pecks his head.

With all hope seemingly lost, Jean spots The Master Fur Trapper (Wes Tank) dressed like Santa Claus, riding a sleigh pulled by sled dogs, passing through the forest. Black smoke billows from the other side of the forest, and Jean decides to investigate.

There, he discovers a cabin run by The Merchant (Doug Mancheski) and his beautiful daughter, The Furrier (Olivia Graves). Jean is instantly smitten, but he has nothing to offer them except his recently caught fish. The Merchant trades him one coin for the fish, which Jean then uses to buy a tiny knife. While there seems to be a spark between Jean and The Furrier, her father has other plans – he wants her to marry The Master Fur Trapper.

With his tiny knife, Jean cleverly turns his shirt into a makeshift lasso and tries to catch rabbits. He discovers the rabbits use a tunnel system and sets a trap to catch them. Unfortunately, raccoons keep eaing the rabbits from his trap before he can collect them. Luckily, he eventually manages to catch and kill a raccoon. On his way back to the merchant’s cabin, he encounters The Indian Fur Trapper (Luis Rico) and trades his tiny knife for a pair of snowshoes.

The Furrier uses the raccoon hide to craft clothing for Jean. The next day, disaster strikes as Jean falls into a trap and breaks his leg. The Master Fur Trapper finds him and saves his life. Jean then accompanies The Master Fur Trapper on his rounds, collecting animals from various traps set around the forest. During this time, Jean gains valuable knowledge about the animals and the various baits used to attract them.

Tragically, The Master Fur Trapper is killed by wolves. Jean obtains the trap plans, but instead of following in The Master Fur Trapper’s footsteps, he chooses to forge his own path. Creating a new map to guide him, Jean embarks on a new career as a professional trapper. He captures more animals and is able to trade them for a hunting rifle.

Love blossoms between Jean and the Furrier, and Jean longs to marry her. However, the Merchant remains unimpressed, deeming Jean unworthy of his daughter. Now you can possibly guess what’s coming next, the Merchant presents Jean with a seemingly impossible challenge: to bring him hundreds of beavers!

Directed by Mike Cheslik with a script he co-wrote with Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, Hundreds of Beavers is hilariously entertaining and incredibly creative. I love how the story unfolds from a quite simple premise and keeps getting weirder and more absurd.

It becomes surrealistically funny with more characters introduced as the plot progresses with unpredictably unique twists, keeping me engaged throughout while attempting to guess what’s going to happen in the next scene. This film is one of the funniest I’ve seen in a very long time.

HUNDREDS of BEAVERS premiered at Fantastic Fest on 29 September 2022. The film received a limited theatrical release in the United States staring from 9 February 2024.