Daybreakers

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Daybreakers

R

2010

1h 38m

Horror

Sci-Fi

Action

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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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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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Richard Brody

The New Yorker

Oct 26, 2020

The conceit is worked out in whiz-bang diabolical detail... and brought to life with imaginative effects.

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Laura Kern

Film Comment Magazine

Sep 24, 2014

A slick, violent, and intensely gloomy horror/action/sci-fi hybrid that stands out in a crowded field of end-of-mankind movie scenarios.

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C. Robert Cargill

Film.com

May 6, 2011

A

Daybreakers is the pinnacle of fun, modern sci-fi horror actioners.

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Joe Lipsett

Queer.Horror.Movies.

Sep 22, 2025

3.5/5

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.

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Nick Rogers

Midwest Film Journal

Nov 20, 2023

3/4

As a vigorous reclamation of what vampire-genre movies should be, "Daybreakers" is, oh, positive.

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Aug 25, 2023

3/4

Daybreakers proves Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig have the potential to become great genre filmmakers

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Mark B

@RT83094886 6 days ago

Great little sci-fi vampire movie. Excellent cast. Really enjoyed watching it third time around. Well thought out world building.

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SomeCovertRebel T

@RT33849120 Oct 20, 2026

There was an idea...

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Giorgio G

@GioBlob Oct 9, 2026

Being absolutely no friend of zombie or Vampire movies (finding them all to be a ridiculous bore, with the occasional comic exception) I had given Daybreakers a miss for nearly two decades. But as it starred Ethan Hawke and William Dafoe I finally gave it a go. While it starts out acceptable with a completely different premise, also having an interesting middle part, it ends up like so many trashy, idiotic Vampire B-Movies, with body parts and thousands of liters of blood splashing around everywhere, turning the whole movie into a complete waste of time. My gosh, what a piece of crap. 2/10 points.

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Robert P

@Superbad Sep 17, 2026

Daybreakers = a *3* star Movie!

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Jeepers C

@RT12312147 May 24, 2026

Definitely, worth a watch.

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Haytham O

@UtahOcean Apr 2, 2026

Pushing aside all its flaws, I think this was an excellent and fresh take on vampire movies. Good action, but more importantly, a sense of intriguing imminent discovery vital to the survival of > whichever side you feel you would support in this universe<. Absolutely worth a watch, and maybe even a few reruns.

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Michael Spierig

Director

Peter Spierig

Director

Ethan Hawke

Edward Dalton

Willem Dafoe

Lionel "Elvis" Cormac

Claudia Karvan

Audrey Bennett

Michael Dorman

Frankie Dalton

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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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