What We Do in the Shadows: parents' guide
Best for ages 15 and up. Rated R for bloody violent content, some sexual material and language.
A deadpan mockumentary comedy for older teens about four vampire flatmates in Wellington, New Zealand, squabbling over chores, nightlife and a rival pack of werewolves. The jokes are gentle but the gore is not: a bitten victim's artery sprays blood across the room, a vampire burns up in sunlight, and werewolves maul a man. Expect a brief orgy shot with some nudity, a masturbation gag, explicit old artwork and about a dozen f-words. Because the bloodshed is played for laughs, we land at 15 despite the R.
What's in it
Violence
StrongFrequent comic gore: a victim's artery sprays blood over the furniture, a new vampire vomits blood with bleeding eyes, an ancient vampire burns in sunlight, and werewolves tear a man apart in shaky footage. Floors littered with bones and a torture chamber appear.
Language
StrongAbout a dozen f-words, some used as comic aggression and often mumbled in thick accents, plus s-words, a--hole, c--k, d--k, bitch and hell. One count tallied a little over 30 obscenities and profanities in all.
Sex and nudity
ModerateA vampire is briefly seen in bed with three women in a mock orgy that includes brief topless nudity, a naked man appears with his genitals pixelated, a bouncing coffin lid implies masturbation, and old paintings show nude figures and sex acts.
Drinking, drugs and smoking
ModerateCharacters drink in bars and nightclubs, and one review describes the vampires getting very drunk on a night out. A few background patrons smoke cigarettes. No drug use is shown.
Scary or intense scenes
ModerateMostly too silly to be scary, but there are jump scares, a creepy ancient vampire who lives in the basement, a dungeon full of bones, and a sudden werewolf attack in the dark woods.
Worth talking about
The vampires are killers who still care about friendship and fitting in. Why do comedies like this make monsters likable, and does that change how we judge what they do?
On our lists
Similar picks around 15+
Checked October 13th, 2026 against Common Sense Media, movieguide.org, the MPA, Wikipedia, bbfc.co.uk. The age is our judgment, not an official rating, and every family draws its lines differently: read the notes, not just the number. Spotted something we missed? Tell us. How we rate.