If you're a fan of The Office or Twilight or anything in between, this film will be absolutely perfect for you. What We Do in the Shadows is an exceptional comedy from the New Zealand masters of satire, Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement. I have personally heard so many good things about this movie and have only recently discovered that it is on Amazon Prime. This mockumentary-style film is incredible in terms of comedy storytelling and I am honestly surprised that more films haven't taken notes and tried new things with the way they tell their stories. The three leads provide amazing performances and make these vampires' lives so human and hilarious.
Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, and Jonny Brugh star as Vladislav, Viago, and Deacon, respectively, three vampires who share a flat together and try to live as normal members of society without abandoning their bloodsucking faith. These three characters really make this film as outstanding as it is. Their interactions and developed relationships almost put this film into slice-of-life territory, but in the funniest way possible. What I enjoyed most was how they completely humanized vampires. Even though I'm certain there isn't a current, widespread panic about how vampires' lifestyles are out-of-the-ordinary, I loved how close I ended up feeling towards this small pack of friends. Every action that they take and every small inconvenience they face was something that any (human) person could relate to and I believe that, at its core, this film is just an examination of roommate and clique culture. This was also due to the mockumentary style of the film, as it even opens with a fictional "New Zealand Documentary Board" title card to further its satirical authenticity. The film crew was supposedly wearing crucifixes during the "filming" of these characters' lives in order to survive documenting their daily lives. Richard Bluck and D.J. Stipsen also nailed the camera feel that Michael Schur has perfected in his number of TV sitcoms to give this look into this close-knit group of vampires the most authentic and genuine feel ever.
One of my favorite production aspects of this movie is its design. From the art department to the makeup to the set design, this movie was entrancing. Not only did the camerawork help to convey a silly, spooky, environment, but the whole set and costumes wildly impressed me; especially for having a smaller budget of 1.6 million. Clement and Waititi's writing throughout this film is also amazing. Their awkward but clever style of situational comedy was a fantastic choice for this story. One thing that makes comedies stand out to me most particularly is their writing, rather than cheap gags, and this film is a great example. Not much exposition was needed to set up how these characters lived, but the audience gets plenty of that information through the humorous storytelling. There is not much that I can say about the style of writing other than how smart and well-timed it all was. There were not many scenes that I directly burst out laughing, but rather many jokes took a second to come full-circle, which was a great effect. The only aspect of this film keeping me from giving it a perfect score is its repetition of humor. I suppose there is only so much lore surrounding vampires, zombies, and werewolves that can be explored in 1 hour and 26 minutes and I felt like a decent chunk of the humor was just repeated jokes. This may be a criticism of mine for this film, but I feel like that is why I am most excited for the rebooted TV series that is beginning in March. This film felt like a very long episode of a supernatural sitcom and I am glad that Waititi has recognized that and adapting it on his own.
What We Do in the Shadows will undoubtedly stand out in my mind as one of the most creative and hilarious comedies ever. While I may not have been laughing out loud the entire time, it is hard not to appreciate the complex levels of humor and character development that they all go through in such a short runtime. I would absolutely recommend this film, as it is truly an outlier among the sea of dull and formulaic comedies of today's age.
My Rating: ★★★★½
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