Review of Daybreakers (2010) by Jesse W — 14 Feb 2018

Daybreakers: Written and directed by the Spierig Brothers.

This is a movie about a world where vampires have taken over the planet and the food source is dwindling. This is a movie where world building is the core of the plot. It spends a lot of time showing what the world would be like in the day to day and the changes in societal situations as well. It introduces a conflicted protagionist looking for a solution to the problems facing their world. Bit by bit, what he thinks he knows about the way things work is not entirely true. His world is shattered until you're left with the difficult choices you have to make in order to make things succeed.

I know that sounds like a sappy indie mumblecore style drama but it's not. It's in a movie where vampires have eaten everything they can and are now running out of food. When they run out of food, they turn into a bat person, a literal man-bat who lives on the blood of whatever they find. There's so much introduction that when you finally find out, there's almost no story left. It's that simplistic. It works. It's different especially living in the age post Twilight.

I enjoyed the film for what it brought to the table. I wanted more. I wanted a more in depth look at a world starving. I wanted to spend more time in vampire land but it was not to be. You were here one minute and then the next minute people were being violently torn apart by starving crazed vampires.

I give this movie a C.