What We Do in the Shadows

A documentary crew embedded with a household of vampires in Wellington, New Zealand, films their daily lives in the months leading up to the Unholy Masquerade — the city's annual gathering of vampires, witches, and zombies. The crew wear crucifix necklaces for safety. The four housemates are Viago, a 379-year-old fastidious Romantic-era dandy who originally followed his lost human love Katherine to New Zealand; Vladislav, a 862-year-old former Eastern European warlord haunted by a long-ago confrontation with 'the Beast'; Deacon, a 183-year-old 'young rebel' former Nazi vampire who insists he is misunderstood; and Petyr, an 8,000-year-old Nosferatu-type elder who lives in a stone basement coffin.

Deacon's human 'familiar' Jackie is supposed to deliver victims but the flatmates often end up eating squirrels and chickens. They argue endlessly about chores — a five-year-old dish pile, blood spatters on the rug. They cannot enter a place without verbal invitation; nightclub bouncers refusing entry slam them into doorframes.

One night a new victim, a brash young man named Nick, escapes from Petyr's basement after being turned. The flatmates reluctantly take him in. Nick brings his soft-spoken human friend Stu, an IT worker, into the group; the vampires immediately adopt Stu as their favorite and let him teach them email, YouTube, and Google. Tensions arise when Nick brags publicly about being a vampire, attracting unwanted attention from a hunter.

The hunter ambushes the flat in daylight and exposes Petyr in his coffin, killing him. Devastated, the four mourn their elder. At the Unholy Masquerade, Vladislav reunites with his old flame Pauline, who is revealed to be 'the Beast' he has been dreading. Outside the venue, Stu — who came along as a human guest — is attacked by a rival werewolf pack led by Anton, who repeatedly reminds his pack that they are werewolves, not swearwolves. Stu is apparently killed.

The vampires rush after the wolves. Sunrise catches them mid-pursuit; they burn against walls and rooftops scrambling for shade. Anton, sun-resistant, actually helps them carry Stu's body back to safety. In the epilogue, Viago reunites with the now-elderly Katherine and turns her so they can be together; Nick is enjoying his vampire life; Vladislav has come to terms with the Beast. A post-credits coda reveals Stu survived as a werewolf and is now a happy member of Anton's pack, howling at the moon.