Hundreds of Beavers (2022)

This movie shouldn't work and also has no business existing. Yet it's one of the most fiercely original comedies I've seen in a long time. It's a passion project shot on a shoestring budget (and it shows!), but somehow that all lends to its strangely irresistible charm. Basically imitating a black-and-white silent film from the 1920s, a fur-trapper struggles to survive in the wilderness during a particularly harsh winter by hunting animals who outsmart him at every turn. The gags are ripped straight out of Looney Tunes and slapstick comedies of old. There are obvious humans in cheap animal suits and glaring green screen effects. Again, everything about it doesn't make any sense on paper. And yet, it's incredibly silly, entertaining, creative and audacious. Just writing about it makes me want to watch it all over again. People who take themselves too seriously need not apply.

4 video game fetch quests out of 5