What We Do in the Shadows

Greetings, What we do in the Shadows is a comedic mockumentary film from New Zealand that was released in early 2014. It was directed by Jemaine Clement, best known for his role in Flight of the Conchords, and fellow New Zealander Taika Waitti. The cast is relatively unknown but consists of 5 main roles, the majority of which are vampires or other supernatural creatures such as werewolves and zombies. Waitti stars as Viago, Ben Fransham portrays Petyr, Jonathan Brugh is Deacon, Jemain Clement plays Vladislav, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer as Nick and Stu Rutherford as their human friend, Stu. The film has a very straightforward plot as it merely follows several vampires as they go about their daily life in the modern world and gives an insight to the undead nightlife in New Zealand.

The storyline begins with a simple introduction, stating that four vampires have allowed a camera crew into their shared flat in Wellington to document their lives. It intially focuses on the four central characters of Viago, Petyr, Decon and Vladislav before expanding into the lives of other individuals and side characters as the film progresses. It should be noted that the characters vary in age as Petyr is 8,000 years old and is therefore the oldest in the group while Deacon at 183 is the youngest vampire. Due to his advanced age Petyr rarely talks and only has a few scenes devoted to him. While he isn’t in the film for overly long, Petyr does move the plot forward by being a central figure in starting several strands of the storyline. The backgrounds of each character, such as Deacon’s past as a Nazi vampire or Viago’s romantic struggles, are explained briefly through the interview segments in which one individual speaks directly to the camera. The interviews help the audience understand the personality and traits of the character as well as their attitude to the outside world.

The plot really picks up once Nick enters the scene. Jackie, a human who works for Deacon as she is under the impression that Deacon will bite her and make her immortal, is responsible for introducing Nick. It is important to mention that Nick is Jackie’s ex-boyfriend and he is brought to the flat under false impressions. The real intention is to let the vampires drink his blood. Once Nick is aware of the trap, he tries to flee the area but is eventually caught by Petyr. It is later revealed that Nick had been transformed into a vampire and the camera crew include him in the documentary as he tries to control his new found powers during the early stages of the movie. It is through Nick that a human character called Stu, a likable introvert with IT skills, is introduced to the group. Stu easily befriends the vampires and helps them enter the digital age of which they had been blissfully ignorant of beforehand.

I really enjoyed this movie for its outlandish premise and colourful characters. The interactions between the fictional figures, particularly their quirky friendship with Stu and their rivalry with werewolves, is one of the strong points of the film. The whimsical humour was also another highlight in my opinion and the comedic scenes are very prominent throughout ‘What we do in the shadows.’ I would encourage you to watch it if you are in the mood for a comedy film or are a fan of the Flight of the Conchords in general.

Plot=7/10

Characters=7/10

Special Effects=8/10

Overall=8/10

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