What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
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A documentary crew follows four vampire housemates living in a flat in Wellington.
The story
A documentary crew follows four vampire housemates—Viago, Vlad1sav, Deacon, and Petyr—who share a flat in the Wellington suburb of Te Aro. All of the vampires possess supernatural powers, including levitation and the ability to transform into animals. Viago is a 17th-century dandy, Vladislav is a 12th-century former tyrant, and Deacon is a 19th-century former peddler. They are joined by Petyr, a reclusive, ancient vampire. The film follows their daily lives as they navigate the modern world, including their nightly excursions to the city to feed and the challenges of maintaining their secret identities while dealing with human interactions and the complexities of their supernatural existence.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
A documentary crew follows four vampire housemates—Viago, Vladislav, Deacon, and Petyr—who share a flat in Wellington. Each night, Viago, Vladislav, and Deacon take the bus into town to feed, while Deacon's human familiar, Jackie, manages their logistics. The plot thickens when Jackie brings a woman and her ex-boyfriend, Nick, to the flat. During a confrontation, the woman is killed and Nick is turned into a vampire by Petyr. Two months later, Nick is accepted into the group, and his friend Stu introduces them to modern technology. Viago uses the internet to find his long-lost love, Katherine. However, Nick's presence causes friction, especially with Deacon. A vampire hunter eventually kills Petyr by exposing him to sunlight, leading to a fallout between the vampires. Later, the group attends the 'Unholy Masquerade' where they encounter other supernatural beings. During a chaotic escape, Stu is attacked by werewolves and presumed dead. Eventually, Nick returns with Stu, who has survived and been transformed into a werewolf. The group reconciles with the werewolves, and Viago reunites with Katherine, who is also turned into vampire. The film ends with various characters finding new status quos, including Vladislav reconciling with his ex-girlfriend Pauline.
- First release year
- 2014
- Runtime (minutes)
- 85
- Production countries
- New Zealand
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Jemaine Clement; Taika Waititi
- Writers
- Jemaine Clement · writer; Taika Waititi · writer
- Cast and characters
- Jemaine Clement · Vladislav the Poker; Taika Waititi · Viago; Jonathan Brugh · Deacon Brucke; Ben Fransham · Petyr; Cori Gonzalez-Macuer · Nick; Stu Rutherford · Stu; Jackie van Beek · Jackie; Rhys Darby · Anton; Ethel Robinson · Katherine Heimburg; Elena Stejko · Pauline Ivanovich; Jason Hoyte · Julian; Karen O'Leary · Officer O'Leary; Mike Minogue · Officer Minogue
- Genres
- mockumentary; comedy; horror
- Themes
- Modernity vs. Tradition; Identity; Loneliness
- Tone and mood
- Comedy; Satirical; Dark
- Setting
- Wellington, New Zealand, present day.
- Premise and plot tags
- Vampires; Mockumentary; Urban Fantasy
- Source material / true-story basis
- 2005 short film: What We Do in the Shadows: Interviews with Some Vampires
- Franchise connections
- What We Do in the Shadows
- Reception
- The film received critical acclaim and was described as 'bloody good fun' and 'desperately funny' by critics.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 96% · scale: percentage · review count: 192; Metacritic · score: 76 · scale: 100 · review count: 33
- Production trivia
- The film was one of the most heavily pirated films on a specific site.; The film's score was composed by Plan 9.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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