George V. Reilly

Review: What We Do In The Shadows

What We Do In The Shadows
Title: What We Do In The Shadows
Director: Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ½
Released: 2014
Keywords: mock­u­men­tary
Watched: 13 May, 2016

What We Do In The Shadows is a mock­u­men­tary about four vampires living in the suburbs of Wellington, New Zealand. They are being filmed by a doc­u­men­tary crew in the months running up to the Unholy Masquerade Ball, the highlight of the social season for the local vampires, witches, and zombies. Not well adapted to modern life, Viago, Vladislav, and Deacon are all hundreds of years old. 8,000-year-old Petyr turns a new vampire, Nick, who brings his human friend, Stu, a computer programmer, into their circle. Stu—who the older vampires like better than Nick­—brings them up to speed with the twenty-first century. And then Stu runs into a pack of werewolves during a full moon.

What We Do In The Shadows is droll and charming, expertly spoofing vampire clichés, while main­tain­ing the pseudo–cinema verité traditions of mock­u­men­taries in following a group of earnest misfits.

Rec­om­mend­ed.

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