Of Drew Dietsch
| Updated
2024 is coming to a close and it’s time for everyone to start compiling their “Best Of” lists. After the smash success of Evilmany critics and moviegoers are projecting that it could become a legitimate contender at the Academy Awards for Best Picture. The $150 million production is the usual mainstream offering that becomes the best movie people have seen in a year. That’s thanks to it being one of a handful of multiplex-monopolizing mega-studio blockbusters that are crowding out more original and independent films. If audiences had more awareness and openness about the best movies of 2024, they would find that the best movie of the year cost 1/1000 of Evils now industry-standard gigantic budget.
Best movie of 2024
Hundreds of beavers is an independent comedy film that cost $150,000 to produce. Taking inspiration from silent comedies, formative black and white cartoons and even video games, Hundreds of beavers tells the deceptively simple story of a hapless fellow named Jean Kayak who ends up having to survive in the wintry wilderness by becoming a fur trapper. This descends into such incredibly crafted madness as Jean finds himself at war with nature and its inhabitants (mostly beavers, but the title spoiled that). Trying to dictate all the gags and running jokes here would do them a disservice. Hundreds of beavers really needs to be seen to be believed.
What I can relate to you here is Hundreds of beavers is the year’s best film not only because it’s a hilarious and expert display of multi-level artistry, but because it stands in stark contrast to the studio system and shows that true creativity is often the realm of independent creators.
Originality from inspiration
While not a measure of any individual film’s quality, the overwhelming dominance of unoriginal films has become a serious problem with my enjoyment of popular cinema. I should define “unoriginal” in this context. Let’s take a look at the current top 20 grossers for 2024 and see if we can piece together a definition:
Of those, sixteen are sequels. Of those sixteen, ten of them are not direct sequels, meaning they are the third entry or longer in their franchise. When it comes to the four non-sequels, one of them is Evila part 1 with a sequel on the way. 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 does 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’s able to take inspiration from popular media and present it in a way that feels really fresh. Instead of “referencing” to create its art, it mixes all the things it loves into a new dish. You won’t see a Triforce symbol anywhere in the movie as a promotional tie-in (hell, entire movies are just video game ads at this point), but you’ll benefit from the film’s use of video game visual language such as menu selections and overworld maps. Felix the Cat doesn’t appear so someone can rake in any royalty rights and go unrecognized by any modern viewer, but the silent cartoon era of anarchist possibility informs so much of what makes Hundreds of beavers a laughter riot.
But why bring up the comparison Evils budget? Because it’s not just Hundreds of beavers being original which makes it the best movie of 2024. There are tons of original movies this year that are excellent! That’s what Hundreds of beavers achieves with such a relatively small amount of funds that propel it to number one.
Creativity despite costs
I haven’t seen Evil so I’m not going to criticize anything about that movie other than what I’ve seen in trailers and other promotional material. Especially, Evils approach to cinematography looks like most of the exclusive commercial and advertising footage we see around the biggest ad campaigns. That’s not to say it “looks bad” at all, but it comes across as uninspiring in the larger cinematic landscape. Part of that is because it has the backing of a massive studio, and studios have become more and more risk-averse when it comes to more striking and stylistic filmmaking.
Counter it with Hundreds of beavers is independently financed and what it can use the medium of film to do with much less. I’m not trying to disparage (I’m sure) the work of the VFX artists and other craftsmen behind it Evilbut looking Hundreds of beavers pulling off such ingenuity with 1/1000th of that film’s budget is more energizing for the future of film than another blockbuster.
Do not take this paragraph as a “Evil sucks!” screed. I haven’t seen it so I don’t know if it sucks or not! But when we start all these annoying price rumbles, remember that the actual best movie of 2024 is a small piece of art made for a thousandth Evil.
