Walter, once a successful and happy family man, has hit rock bottom. But, in his darkest hour, he finds a rather unusual savior: a beaver hand-puppet that takes over Walter’s life in an attempt to change things for the better.

It takes a sure hand to find the pathos in such a bizarre, high-concept set-up as that of The Beaver. For her third feature as director, Jodie Foster uses a puppet with a messiah complex to turn a manic tale of midlife crisis into a thoughtfully moving meditation on rock bottoms and regrets.