Daybreakers (2009)

In the year 2019, a plague has transformed almost every human into vampires. Faced with a dwindling blood supply, the fractured dominant race plots their survival; meanwhile, a researcher works with a covert band of vamps on a way to save humankind.

Directors:

Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig

Writers:

Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig

Stars:

Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill

4 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ethan Hawke	...	Edward Dalton
Willem Dafoe	...	Lionel 'Elvis' Cormac
Sam Neill	...	Charles Bromley
Claudia Karvan	...	Audrey Bennett
Michael Dorman	...	Frankie Dalton
Isabel Lucas	...	Alison Bromley
Vince Colosimo	...	Christopher Caruso
Callum McLean	...	Vampire School Kid
Harriet Minto-Day	...	Lisa Barrett
Jarrad Pon	...	Vampire School Kid
Sahaj Dumpleton	...	Homeless Vampire
Victoria Williams	...	Vampire School Kid
Jay Laga'aia	...	Senator Turner
Zoe White	...	Vampire School Kid
Gabriella Di Labio	...	Businesswoman

Storyline

In a world 10 years into the future, vampires make up the vast majority of the population with only 5% of the human race remaining. This presents particular challenges as the vampires' food supply - human blood - is dwindling and rationing is now the norm. There is growing evidence that vampires deprived of an adequate blood supply are themselves evolving into wild, vile creatures that attack anyone and anything in order to survive. Dr. Edward Dalton, a vampire and hematologist who works for a pharmaceutical firm, has been working on finding an artificial blood supply that will meet the vampire society's needs. He is sympathetic to humans and sees his work as a way of alleviating their suffering but his views on finding a solution change considerably when he meets someone who found a way to transform himself from being a vampire to again take human form.

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Plot Keywords:

vampire | blood | vampire society | plague | rationing | 

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Taglines:

The battle between immortality and humanity is on.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong bloody violence, language and brief nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [France]

Country:

Australia USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 January 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

La hermandad

Filming Locations:

Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,344,588 (UK) (8 January 2010)

Gross:

£4,185,646 (UK) (5 February 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lionsgate, Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC), Pictures in Paradise

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

DTS SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The corporation named Bromley Marks is named after Patricia Bromley Marks, the wife of Dick Marks, Australian advertising legend and mentor to Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig.

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Goofs

In the first scene set in Charles Bromley's office, Bromley greets Edward Dalton and touches Dalton at the elbow with his right hand; in the next shot, Bromley's arm is at his side.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[on television]
Senator Westlake: Let's be clear about this. Humans were offered a chance to assimilate, but they refused. Therefore, they are enemies of the state and will be captured and farmed for blood supply.

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Crazy Credits

In line with the subject of the movie, the lettering of the end credits is in red, instead of the customary white.

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Connections

Referenced in DR2 Premiere: Episode #4.2 (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Burning Love"
Words & Music by Dennis Linde
Published by Sony / ATV

User Reviews

Ehh...

Some films contain better ideas for another film. That is exactly what we have here in Daybreakers. In the future, we are all vampires. Only this isn't I am Legend. We walk, talk and do as we used to do. The major difference being that we must obviously drink blood and avoid the sun. Thus any and all humans are captured and farmed for blood until the day they die. We have found a way to do these things and maintain the semblance of our day-to-day. This is the film I so wanted to see. A function society of vampires living in a world built for humanity. Sadly, we don't get enough of it.

What's left of humanity survives by day and dodges at night. Hematologist Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawke…wow its' been a while) is sympathetic to their cause because he does in fact still possess his humanity. His boss (Sam Neil) simply wants capital which should have far less importance in a world where blood is the only real necessity. Dalton's goal is to find either a cure for the disease (never explained) or a substitute to replace human blood which is dwindling fast. If the powers that be can't find a solution we will all change into a creature resembles a mutant bat and Mickey Rourke's face from The Wrestler. Dalton stumbles upon a group of humans who have found a way to cure the disease. This method is explained so simplistically it's stupid to think another vampire or two wouldn't have stumbled upon it by accident too. Among this group is Audrey (Claudia Kraven) and Elvis (Willem Dafoe…here setting a precedent for cliché' sadly). Elvis has been cured thanks to his love of fast cars. Don't ask. I'll only groan.

Daybreakers is far from a bad film but it's certainly a stubborn and frustrating one. There is such a fantastic idea here that is tossed aside because we are supposed to identify more with the humans than we are expected to be fascinated by this vampire-urbanity. The action scenes are rather clunky as well and not at all thrilling. That's quite peculiar because some shots in the film look so stellar you'd think they are from a different budget. Characterization is also at a bare minimum. Dalton for example has a soldier brother who serves simply as someone who can move the plot along, he doesn't have to provide any real emotion. Neil also has a daughter (Isabel Lucas last seen as chick-bot in Transformers II) whose screen time and presence in the film is really an utter waste. I suppose it provides Neil some motivation later on in the film but again, this only serves the plot. It doesn't make the film any better which can be said about most of the scenes here.

A lot of folks…scratch that a lot of DUDES will like Daybreakers simply because it is not New Moon. The vampires actually bite things, are dangerous, act like they are vampires and not CW stars, and the blood flows freely (the last 10 minutes may be the goriest since Planet Terror). I didn't make this comparison as the two films only have the term vampire in common. Instead I saw a film that used a genius premise to set-up a rather boring, dull and far too conventional 2 hours. I wish there was more to elaborate on but truthfully any mediocre film will make you say this: I don't care to.