Day Shift | |
---|---|
Directed by | J. J. Perry |
Screenplay by |
|
Story by | Tyler Tice |
Produced by |
|
Starring | |
Cinematography | Toby Oliver |
Edited by | Paul Harb |
Music by | Tyler Bates |
Production companies |
|
Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
|
Running time | 114 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $50-100 million |
Day Shift is a 2022 American action comedy horror film directed by J. J. Perry in his directorial debut, written by Tyler Tice and Shay Hatten from a story by Tice, and starring Jamie Foxx as a blue-collar father whose pool-cleaning job is a front for his work as a vampire hunter. The film also stars Dave Franco, Snoop Dogg, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Meagan Good, Karla Souza, Steve Howey, and Scott Adkins.
Netflix released Day Shift on its streaming service on August 12, 2022. The film received mixed reviews from critics.
Bud Jablonski is a blue-collar dad who provides for his family by hunting and killing vampires under the guise of being a pool cleaner.
While at work Bud sees a man leaving the house where he's working, silently breaking into the house, and encounters two vampires, an elderly woman and a younger man, who he kills after a lengthy fight. With their fangs pulled out, Bud tries to sell them at a pawn shop, but the prices that Troy, the owner, offers are not enough to help him with his money troubles. Bud's ex-wife Jocelyn plans to move to Florida with their daughter, who attends a private school with high fees. To pay the tuition, cover his debts, and buy his daughter braces, Bud is forced to return to the vampire hunting union.
Bud enlists his old army friend, "Big" John Elliot, to help him rejoin the union. The union boss, Ralph Seeger, initially refuses, due to Bud's history of multiple code violations. He eventually is given a final chance but must work under strict conditions: He must only work the day shift, which does not pay well and must be supervised by a union rep named Seth. Seth is tasked to look for, and report, any violations committed by Bud. Meanwhile, a vampire named Audrey finds the vampires that Bud killed. While searching for the man who killed the older of the two vampires, Audrey finds, tortures, and interrogates Troy. Before she kills him, she reveals that humans used to worship vampires as gods and plans to restore the old order by building homes and using them to establish vampire colonies so she can create an army.
Bud and Seth go hunting, and although Bud violates several union protocols, Seth does not report them after learning of Bud's aim to support his family with his earnings. After they find and destroy an unusual nest filled with several varieties of vampires, Audrey contacts Bud and threatens his family, revealing that the elderly vampire was her daughter. Bud rushes to his ex-wife to save her while being pursued by vampires but fails to get there in time. His family is taken hostage by Audrey, and Seth is turned into a vampire. Now set on rescuing his family, Bud and Seth recruit Bud's neighbor, an outcast vampire named Heather, to help them assault Audrey's stronghold.
At the stronghold, they are joined by Big John. During the fight, John gets bitten and chooses to sacrifice himself so that Bud can save his family. Bud is no match for Audrey's superior speed and physical strength, but through a clever trick, he gains the upper hand, kills her, and saves his family. When Seeger arrives with backup from the union and tries to use Bud's numerous violations to kick him out, Seth uses his extensive knowledge of loopholes in the union's rules to prevent him from doing so. As the Jablonski family drives away, Big John climbs out of a manhole in the street showing that he survived the explosion.
The film was financed by Netflix, 87Eleven Productions and Impossible Dream Entertainment, with a budget of between $50 million and $100 million. [1] Day Shift is the directorial debut of longtime (starting 2006) second-unit director J. J. Perry. Tyler Tice wrote the script, and Shay Hatten provided a rewrite. Chad Stahelski, Jason Spitz, Jamie Foxx, Shaun Redick Yvette Yates Redick, Datari Turner, and Peter Baxter produced. Netflix announced the film on October 20, 2020, by revealing Foxx had joined the cast. [2] Additional cast members were announced in April 2021. [3] [4] Principal photography took place in Los Angeles, California between April 19 and August 22, 2021. [1]
Tyler Bates composed the film score. Netflix Music released the soundtrack.[ citation needed ]
Day Shift was released on Netflix on August 12, 2022. [5]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 57% of 138 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.7/10.The website's consensus reads: "Game stars and an appealingly goofy premise aren't enough to make up for Day Shift's uninspired action-comedy hijinks." [6] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 51 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. [7]
Michael Ordoña of the Los Angeles Times called the film a "damned delight" and said: "One would be tempted to call it the best horror comedy of 2022 so far, but it mixes so many genres it's more like 2022's best horror-buddy-cop-cartel-drama-bounty-hunter-martial-arts-action comedy (so far)." [8] Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter called it "a rambunctious, strange and occasionally humorous action-thriller-comedy". [9]
Owen Gleiberman of Variety found the film agreeable at first but "until it starts to be just convoluted enough to give you a headache, especially when the rules are applied as inconsistently as they are here". [10] Peter Travers of ABC News wrote: "A slumming Jamie Foxx is cool to the max as a vampire hunter gunning down bloodsuckers in sunny LA. But you leave this goofy but mostly godawful action-comedy feeling pummeled, beaten down by an avalanche of sound and fury signifying the usual nothing." [11] [7] Brian Lowry of CNN wrote: "It's the kind of star-driven vehicle that yields obvious benefits to Netflix even if, qualitatively speaking, it doesn't deserve to see the light of day." [12] [13]
Eric Marlon Bishop, known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He gained his career breakthrough as a featured player in the sketch comedy show In Living Color from 1991 to 1994. Following this success, he was given his own sitcom, The Jamie Foxx Show, in which he starred, co-created and produced from 1996 to 2001.
Meagan Monique Good is an American actress and model. She first gained critical attention for her role in the film Eve's Bayou (1997) prior to landing the role of Nina in the Nickelodeon sitcom Cousin Skeeter (1998–2001). Good received further prominence after starring in the films Deliver Us from Eva (2003), Roll Bounce (2005) and Stomp the Yard (2007).
Steven Michael Robert Howey is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles as Van Montgomery on The WB/The CW sitcom television series Reba and as Kevin Ball on the Showtime series Shameless. Howey has also appeared in the films Supercross, DOA: Dead or Alive, Bride Wars, Game Over, Man!, Day Shift and Something Borrowed.
Eric Lange is an American actor. He is known for his extensive work on television, where he has appeared in a wide variety of both supporting and leading roles.
Marek Ariel Schulman is an American filmmaker and actor. He starred in, produced, and directed the 2010 documentary Catfish, and co-directed Paranormal Activity 3 (2011), Paranormal Activity 4 (2012), Nerve (2016) and Project Power (2020) with Henry Joost.
Peter Baxter is president and co-founder of Slamdance, and a filmmaker.
The following is the filmography of American actor, comedian, and singer Jamie Foxx.
Karla Susana Olivares Souza is a Mexican actress known for her roles as Laurel Castillo on the ABC legal drama series How to Get Away with Murder and Marina Hayworth on the ABC sitcom Home Economics. She won the International Emmy Award for Best Actress in 2023 for her role as Mariel Saenz in the television movie La Caída.
Bentley Kyle Evans is an American television writer, producer, director and actor. He is a native of Oakland, California.
Natasha Liu Bordizzo is an Australian actress. She made her movie debut portraying the character of Snow Vase in Netflix's 2016 wuxia film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny. In 2019, she portrayed the character of Helena in Netflix's The Society. in 2021, she played Julia in Amazon Prime's erotic thriller The Voyeurs, and in 2022, she portrayed the character of Heather in Netflix's Day Shift. In 2023, she portrayed the Mandalorian warrior Sabine Wren in the Disney+ series Ahsoka.
Jamie Demetriou is an English comedian, actor and screenwriter. He is best known for his role as Bus Rodent in Fleabag and for creating, co-writing, and starring in Stath Lets Flats. For the latter, he won Best Male Actor in a Comedy, Best Writer of a Comedy, and Best Scripted Comedy at the 2020 BAFTA Awards.
Mattson Tomlin is an American filmmaker and writer.
Night Teeth is a 2021 American vampire thriller film directed by Adam Randall from a screenplay by Brent Dillon. The film stars Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Debby Ryan, Lucy Fry, Raul Castillo, Sydney Sweeney, Megan Fox, and Alfie Allen.
Brianne Nicole Howey is an American actress. She first began to attract attention with main roles in the Fox series The Exorcist (2016) and The Passage (2019) and a recurring role in the first season of The CW's superhero drama Batwoman (2019–2020) as Reagan Pye.
Teenage Bounty Hunters is an American teen comedy drama television series created by Kathleen Jordan for Netflix which was released on August 14, 2020. In October 2020, the series was canceled after one season. Blake McCormick and Jenji Kohan are executive producers, along with Tara Herrmann and Robert Sudduth serving as showrunner.
Dad Stop Embarrassing Me! is an American comedy television series created by Jamie Foxx and Jim Patterson that premiered on Netflix on April 14, 2021. That June, it was canceled after one season.
Me Time is a 2022 American buddy comedy film written and directed by John Hamburg. The film stars Kevin Hart, Mark Wahlberg, Regina Hall, Luis Gerardo Méndez, and Jimmy O. Yang. It is about a stay-at-home dad as he finds himself with some "me time" for the first time in years while his wife and kids are away. He reconnects with his former best friend Huck for a wild weekend that nearly upends his life.
Strays is a 2023 American comedy film directed by Josh Greenbaum and written by Dan Perrault. The film follows an abandoned dog who teams up with several strays to get revenge on his abusive owner. Harvey Guillén, Rob Riggle, Brett Gelman, Jamie Demetriou, and Sofía Vergara also star.
Back in Action is an upcoming American action comedy film directed by Seth Gordon from a script he co-wrote with Brendan O'Brien. The film stars Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, Andrew Scott, Jamie Demetriou, Kyle Chandler, and Glenn Close. It is scheduled to be released by Netflix on January 17, 2025.