Common Sense Media Review
Great dark humor and horror in worthy movie follow-up.
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What We Do in the Shadows
What's the Story?
Based on Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi's same-named movie, WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS purports to be a documentary about four vampire roommates: self-appointed house leader "Nandor the Relentless" (Kayvan Novak), roguish fop Laszlo (Matt Berry), take-no-prisoners Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), and Colin (Mark Proksch), an "energy" vampire whose super power is draining the life from those around him. Supported by Nandor's human familiar, Guillermo (Harvey Guillén), the group is making a go of their household, if not exactly "living" together. But when head vampire Baron Afanas (Doug Jones) pays them a visit, they're reminded that they moved to New York with the goal to instigate vampire domination of the New World. It's taken more than 200 years, but they're finally ready to get started.
Is It Any Good?
Nailing the same absurdity-tinged-with-horror tone as the movie that preceded it, this endlessly quotable mockumentary proves that the "vampire roommate" premise still has plenty of bite. Genius co-creators Waititi and Clement made smart moves by transferring the action in the TV version of What We Do in the Shadows to Staten Island, New York ("That's where the boat dropped us off," explains Nadja), and shaking up the vampire mix. Nadja injects a note of take-no-prisoners energy, and Colin's oatmeal-bland relentless drone gives the undead vampires a (really boring) common enemy to bond over.
The plight of Guillermo proves to be a rich source of gags as well. After ten years in service to Nandor, he expects to be made a vampire any day now. Meanwhile, he dutifully takes Nandor shopping, lights candles to ready the house for Nandor's nightly wakeup call ("Very scary, Master," he says approvingly as Nandor rises from his casket), and lugs out dead bodies. "Being a vampire's familiar is like being a friend ... who's also a slave," he admits. Meanwhile, Nandor and company barely notice his service, content instead to argue over how to mark victims so that the roomies will know who belongs to whom ("Use Sharpie, name of month, date, year," advises Nadja), or where they should hold their next Blood Feast. Even if you've never had a house chore wheel or argued over who left the most dishes, watching this quartet of flatmates work out their daily differences is bloody delightful.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about What We Do in the Shadows' violence. Does the blood and horror shock you? Make you laugh? What's the difference between violence intended for humor and the more realistic kind? Does the comedy make the horror less or more scary?
How does the "mockumentary" format contribute to—or detract from—this story? Have you seen this type of setup before? Does it ever get old?
Satire uses irony, exaggeration, and humor to ridicule people's shortcomings; parody is an exaggerated imitation of the style of a genre or artistic work. Is the humor in What We Do in the Shadows closer to satire or to parody? Is it a blend of both?
TV Details
- Premiere date : March 27, 2019
- Cast : Kayvan Novak , Matt Berry , Natasia Demetriou , Harvey Guillén , Mark Proksch
- Network : FX
- Genre : Comedy
- Topics : Fantasy ( Vampires )
- TV rating :
- Awards : BAFTA - BAFTA Nominee , Emmy - Emmy Award Winner , Emmy - Emmy Award Nominee , NAACP Image Award - NAACP Image Award Nominee
- Last updated : April 1, 2026
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