“Life’s a bitch, and then you don’t die.”
If I’d watched this movie as a child, its freaky worldbuilding, fast-paced plot, and green-blue Twilight filter probably would’ve endeared it to me greatly. (Not to mention Ethan Hawke in that haircut and shirt, hello!)
As it stands, however, I have a faint lingering fondness for this movie, like a neighborhood child I wish I’d befriended during our shared youth. While I can’t claim much familiarity or attachment now, I can look back and wonder about what could’ve been.
From the start, Daybreakers establishes itself in a shockingly brutal world, with vampires being the domineering class over a dwindling number of surviving humans. There are some delightfully shocking and disturbing elements in here: humans being used as blood bags in a factory-farm style, starving vampires feeding on themselves, and dying vamps being dragged out into the sun by tanks as a form of execution.
I’m quite an Ethan Hawke fan, and I can’t get past just how good he looks in this movie. And I was pleasantly surprised by Willem Dafoe’s appearance, as he’s always a delight. The two of them are great, but even the minor characters in here hold emotional weight, from Ethan Hawke’s casual love interest to his vampire brother. Plus, there are some fun moments of levity amid the carnage!
“We’re the folks with the crossbows” got a chuckle out of me, and “Being human in a world full of vampires is about as safe as barebacking a five dollar whore” made me choke on my drink. Dafoe’s country accent really makes these lines!
Spoilers beyond this point!
The ending is a bit strange. Can it be described as open-ended when, technically, the heroes achieved their goal? Because yes, a vampiric cure has been found, but what’s the endgame here? Given the way vampires have ravaged the world with human beings as their sole food source, a new race of humans feels just as sustainable as a race of self-destructive vamps. But hey, that ambiguity is honestly part of Daybreakers’ charm!
With a great cast, enjoyable dialogue and characters, and an atmosphere that’s a blend of camp and horror, this would certainly make a fun Halloween watch. Pair it with Twilight to confirm just how closely the color palettes line up!
