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Daybreakers

Play trailer 1:01 Poster for Daybreakers R Released Jan 8, 2010 1h 38m Horror Sci-Fi Action Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
69% Tomatometer 155 Reviews 49% Popcornmeter 100,000+ Ratings
Ten years after a plague turns most of the world's population into vampires, a critical blood shortage causes panic and gruesome mutations among the reanimated. Edward (Ethan Hawke), a vampire hematologist, tries to develop a blood substitute when he meets Lionel (Willem Dafoe) and Audrey (Claudia Karvan), two fugitive humans who claim to have a possible cure. Edward casts his lot with them in the hope of perfecting the cure before it's too late.
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Daybreakers

Daybreakers

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Critics Consensus

Though it arrives during an unfortunate glut of vampire movies, Daybreakers offers enough dark sci-fi thrills -- and enough of a unique twist on the genre -- to satisfy filmgoers.

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Critics Reviews

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Richard Brody The New Yorker The conceit is worked out in whiz-bang diabolical detail... and brought to life with imaginative effects. Oct 26, 2020 Full Review Laura Kern Film Comment Magazine A slick, violent, and intensely gloomy horror/action/sci-fi hybrid that stands out in a crowded field of end-of-mankind movie scenarios. Sep 24, 2014 Full Review C. Robert Cargill Film.com Daybreakers is the pinnacle of fun, modern sci-fi horror actioners. Rated: A May 6, 2011 Full Review Joe Lipsett Queer.Horror.Movies. The film's climax is so lurid and operatic that it nearly punts the film into camp territory, but the story and world building is strong enough that the Spierig Brothers’ tendency to fall back on familiar tropes is forgivable. Rated: 3.5/5 Sep 22, 2025 Full Review Nick Rogers Midwest Film Journal As a vigorous reclamation of what vampire-genre movies should be, "Daybreakers" is, oh, positive. Rated: 3/4 Nov 20, 2023 Full Review Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review Daybreakers proves Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig have the potential to become great genre filmmakers Rated: 3/4 Aug 25, 2023 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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MA A. Interesting taking on vampires. I enjoyed the movie and would watch it again Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/05/25 Full Review Oaklee D An odd dystopian vampire film with some 50/50 special effects. Half the time they're great and the other half are cheese. The opening title sequence is one of the cheapest things I've seen this year. Overall it's an ok film if you want to waste some time on a rainy day. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 09/30/25 Full Review K P I enjoyed the film, and I thought the music was great! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/14/25 Full Review babarizam D Idea is good but script is way too weak to break even. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/30/25 Full Review Jason W This one rides the fine line between horror and sci-fi, but the drama is a tad dry for me. The look is fantastic and story is decent, just wasn't enough there for me to give it a high rating. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 05/25/25 Full Review John J This movie is the best vampire movie since Blade, I'm tired of Rotten Tomatoes giving stupid low scores to genuine entertainment and giving 100% to artsy indie BS that is totally unrelatable. How does Face off get A 98 but this gets 69? I hate this place. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/12/25 Full Review Read all reviews
Daybreakers

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Daybreakers

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Movie Info

Synopsis Ten years after a plague turns most of the world's population into vampires, a critical blood shortage causes panic and gruesome mutations among the reanimated. Edward (Ethan Hawke), a vampire hematologist, tries to develop a blood substitute when he meets Lionel (Willem Dafoe) and Audrey (Claudia Karvan), two fugitive humans who claim to have a possible cure. Edward casts his lot with them in the hope of perfecting the cure before it's too late.
Director
Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
Producer
Chris Brown, Bryan Furst, Sean Furst
Screenwriter
Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
Distributor
Lionsgate Films
Production Co
Australian Film Finance Corporation, Furst Films, Paradise Productions, Lionsgate Films, Pacific Film and Television Commission
Rating
R (Language|Brief Nudity|Strong Bloody Violence)
Genre
Horror, Sci-Fi, Action
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 8, 2010, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 17, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA)
$30.0M
Runtime
1h 38m
Sound Mix
Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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