Daybreakers

Casts : Sam Neill, Willem Dafoe, Ethan Hawke

By 2019, a pandemic disease has turned most of the world’s human population into vampires. As human numbers dwindle, the need for blood becomes desperate. When deprived of blood for extended periods, vampires degenerate into subsiders: aggressive bat-like creatures. Humans are captured and harvested in laboratory farms while scientists research a synthetic blood substitute to satisfy vampires’ blood hunger. The main supplier of blood in the United States is the pharmaceutical company Bromley Marks, run by Charles Bromley (Sam Neill). Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawke) and Chris Caruso (Vince Colosimo) are hematologists working on the blood substitute. Under pressure from Charles, they try multiple versions in a series of failing clinical trials. Edward secretly refuses to drink human blood and faces a strained relationship with his brother, Frankie (Michael Dorman), a human-hunting soldier.

A covert group of humans led by Audrey (Claudia Karvan) rescues and hides humans from vampire patrols while they attempt to win allies amongst the vampires. Audrey contacts Edward because of his human sympathies and scientific specialty. He meets Elvis (Willem Dafoe), a man cured of vampirism by brief exposure to sunlight while being thrown into water. After some experimentation, Edward is able to duplicate this effect and is cured himself.

When a convoy of humans headed to Audreys group is captured by Bromley soldiers, Charles is reunited with his human daughter, Alison (Isabel Lucas), and has her forcibly turned by Frankie. She refuses to drink human blood, and begins to turn into a subsider. She is killed when a group of the creatures are rounded up and executed. Witnessing Alisons death upsets Frankie and he seeks out his brother.

Edward, Elvis, and Audrey meet with Chris and ask him to help spread the cure. However, Chris has finally discovered a viable blood substitute and does not want a cure to become widespread. He calls in a vampire patrol which captures Audrey while Elvis and Edward escape into hiding. They are finally found by Frankie, who agrees to help but is gradually becoming a subsider. He attacks Elvis and they discover that feeding on a former vampire is another cure for vampirism.

Edward turns himself in and goads Charles into attacking him. Edward uses the now-cured Charles to cure a group of soldiers experiencing the beginning of subsider aggression. Edward and Audrey, cornered by more soldiers, are rescued when Frankie sacrifices himself to the soldiers. This sparks a feeding frenzy that leaves all of the soldiers dead or cured. They are confronted by Chris, who kills the few cured soldiers to hide the evidence of the cure. Elvis arrives and rescues Edward and Audrey by killing Chris. The three survivors then drive away into the sunrise with a voice-over by Edward stating that they have a cure and can change others back.