2024 Show
Jemaine Clement · New-Zealand, United States of America · English
A proudly silly vampire comedy with endlessly quotable characters
Based on the 2014 film of the same title, this mockumentary series manages the difficult, Seinfeld-ean task of being about nothing in particular and still being funny. Sure, the show’s episodes usually revolve around its core cast of vampires’ unfamiliarity with the real world, but the stakes are low—no pun intended—and the character relationships get to develop at a relaxed pace. Even when new monsters or more fearsome vampires are introduced, the show never loses its absurd, goofy tone. And from insecure Nandor and feisty Nadja, to exasperated Guillermo, monotone Colin, and sassy Laszlo, What We Do in the Shadows boasts one of the most robust ensemble of bumbling protagonists on TV today.
A documentary-style look into the daily (or rather, nightly) lives of a group of vampires in Staten Island who have “lived” together for hundreds and hundreds of years.
"The series is far too silly to qualify as a horror show, but there's a giddy thrill within that silliness whenever one of the vampires takes flight, or transforms into a bat, or munches on the neck of an unfortunate."
— Troy Patterson
"This is an appealingly low-stakes series that's content to be silly and mildly perverse, and that packs a lot of jokes into its half-hour running time."
— Matt Zoller Seitz
Berlin
1 nom
Sundance
1 nom
Emil Hofileña is a curator at A Good Movie to Watch. He also writes as a theater critic, with work published in Rogue and Out of Print, among others. He’s probably crying over a movie or an episode as we speak.
Terrific program, love it.