Movie Substrate · Film

What We Do in the Shadows (2014)

★ 7.5 · 3,909 ratings on TMDB

Some interviews with some vampires.

What We Do in the Shadows poster★ 7.5

Vampire housemates try to cope with the complexities of modern life and show a newly turned hipster some of the perks of being undead.

DirectorJemaine Clement, Taika Waititi
CastBen Fransham, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, Elena Stejko, Jackie van Beek, Jason Hoyte, Jemaine Clement
GenresComedy, Horror
The emergence reading

In What We Do in the Shadows, consciousness is carried by monsters and creatures — a plane of “vampire flatshare”. The story fights on E8/E9 of the E0–E14 reality ladder, compressing identity, mortality, otherness, tradition, community.

↷ monsters and creaturesNZidentitymortalityothernesstraditioncommunity
⇄ Parameter shift — the dial this world turnsrigor: loose
E6mortalitymortality = none (organisms do not age or die of natural causes) (biology · local)
Also inFilms about othernessFilms about mortalityConsciousness hiding in monstersFilms about identity
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Same rung, same subject

Films fighting at the same level of reality, about the same things.

Kizumonogatari Part 1: Tekketsu (2016)E8/E9 · identity, mortalityVampire in Brooklyn (1995)E8/E9 · identity, mortalityI Am Dragon (2015)E8/E9 · identity, othernessHalloweentown (1998)E8/E9 · identity, othernessHomunculus (2021)E8/E9 · identity, mortalityShrek (2001)E8/E9 · identity, tradition

Same subject, different rung

The same preoccupations examined at another scale — one mind versus a nation.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)E13/E14 · rare rung · identity, otherness

Also bends a rule of reality

Other films that change a standing rule of their world — ranked first by those bending it at the same rung.

Blade (1998)alters at E6 · same rung · looseThe Lost Boys (1987)alters at E6 · same rung · looseThe Wolf Man (1941)alters at E6 · same rung · loosePuss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)alters at E6 · same rung · looseBlade Runner (1982)alters at E6 · same rung · rigorousEncanto (2021)alters at E6 · same rung · loose

Also hides consciousness here

Other films that move a human interior onto the same kind of thing.

Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015)consciousness in monsters · monster hotelThe Smurfs (2011)consciousness in monsters · blue creature metropolisThe Grinch (2018)consciousness in monsters · holiday townTinker Bell (2008)consciousness in monsters · fairy realmWish Dragon (2021)consciousness in monsters · modern Shanghai with a wish dragonBuffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)consciousness in monsters · high‑school slayer world

Same subject, different mask

The same preoccupations carried by a different kind of thing — grief told through the dead, an animal, a machine.

Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (2005)consciousness in aliens · identity, mortalityKung Fu Panda 3 (2016)consciousness in animals · community, identityLeo (2023)consciousness in animals · community, identityThe Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013)consciousness carried elsewhere · identity, mortalityThe Book of Life (2014)consciousness in abstractions · identity, mortalityMarcel the Shell with Shoes On (2022)consciousness carried elsewhere · community, identity

Same people

Shared director or cast.

Eagle vs Shark (2007)dir. Taika WaititiThor: Love and Thunder (2022)dir. Taika WaititiJojo Rabbit (2019)dir. Taika WaititiMen in Black 3 (2012)Jemaine ClementAvatar: The Way of Water (2022)Jemaine ClementFree Guy (2021)Taika Waititi