What We Do In The Shadows and 8 More Taika Waititi’s Shows and Movies
The director has his own bright style and it's hard not to fall in love with it.
The creator of hilarious and touching comedies, Taika Waititi started out making low-budget films in his native New Zealand and came to Hollywood with the incredibly successful What We Do in the Shadows, which deconstructed the image of the classic vampire.
Currently, Taika is busy developing blockbusters as well as continuing to make touching projects like Jojo Rabbit.
1. Hunt for the Wilderpeople, 2016
Little orphan Ricky can't fit in with any family–- he's always causing trouble, and sent back to the orphanage. Only the compassionate Bella, who lives in a village far from civilization with a taciturn man named Hector, really accepts him.
One day, however, the woman drops dead while hanging out the laundry. Now Ricky should be taken back to the shelter, where he will probably never leave – but instead, completely unadapted to life, he runs off with Hector into the New Zealand forests.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople is Waititi's last New Zealand movie: after that, he will finally move to Hollywood.
2. Boy, 2010
Boy is Taika Waititi's most underrated and best movie, which is now considered as a warm-up for Jojo Rabbit.
These two movies have a lot in common. Both tell funny and poignant stories about boys from disadvantaged backgrounds who live in their own imaginary world. Only here it's a New Zealand village, not Nazi Germany. And instead of a Hitler buddy, there's another father figure – one who's just come out of prison and dreams of finding a long-buried treasure.
3. Eagle vs Shark, 2007
Lily is a loser who works at a diner. Jarrod is also a loser who Lily somehow finds to be the most attractive person on the planet. They meet at a costume party (one of them, dressed as an eagle, the other as a shark), and soon Jarrod is taking his new girlfriend back to his native New Zealand village, where he has some unfinished business.
Eagle vs Shark is an absurd, light-hearted and touching movie that brings to the world a simple but heartwarming idea that everyone can find their match.
4. What We Do in the Shadows, 2014
Most viewers first encountered Waititi's name through What We Do in the Shadows, a mockumentary comedy about the lives of old-fashioned vampire pals in Wellington.
Taika and his collaborator Jemaine Clement reimagined the entire history of vampire cinema, from Nosferatu to Twilight, and did so with such wit and audacity that their little New Zealand movie couldn't help but get noticed around the world.
Now it's probably the last true cult comedy of the 21st century, spawning several spin-offs and a TV remake, which we'll tell you about below.
5. Our Flag Means Death, 2022-2023
Aristocrat Stede Bonnet is so tired of his boring life that one day he escapes to the open sea on a ship with a small crew and declares himself a pirate. Of course, his ideas about the life of a pirate are a bit different from reality. Stede is not used to dirt and hardship, keeps a library on the ship and tries to lead the crew with warmth and nobility.
In the comedy series about an aristocrat who decides to become a pirate, which was produced by Waititi, the filmmaker himself plays the legendary Edward Teach, also known as Blackbeard. At first, his character seems like a sinister sea wolf whose habits are influenced by Captain Jack Sparrow. But it soon becomes clear that Teach is not as simple as he seems.
6. Jojo Rabbit, 2019
A little boy nicknamed Jojo lives with his mother in Nazi Germany. He is clumsy and generally not evil, but he was completely brainwashed by propaganda: the boy sincerely believes that Jews are some kind of scary monsters, and his imaginary friend is literally Hitler.
Jojo's world collapses when he discovers a Jewish girl in the attic of his house, hidden by his mother. And suddenly, she turns out not to be a monster at all.
Jojo Rabbit is a surprisingly sensitive movie about growing up and the clash between a child's world and reality. It is still a very funny and bright movie, but most of all it will be remembered for those rare moments of indescribable pain, when Jojo's world is brutally destroyed by the war that surrounds him.
7. What We Do in the Shadows, 2019-2024
The comedy series, based on the movie of the same name, tells the story of four vampires who share an apartment in New York City. They face a difficult task – they need to flood Staten Island with newly turned vampires, but it turns out that this is not so easy: after all, not everyone is willing to condemn themselves to an endless existence.
Like the 2014 film, the show satirizes the classic image of vampires from the cinema of the past. The portrait of a vampire asking questions about the meaning of his own existence became a response to the outdated image of a passionate and sexy hero-lover that dominated the vampire genre from the late 90s to the early 2000s.
8. Thor: Ragnarok, 2017
Marvel has a long history of hiring up-and-coming indie filmmakers for its superhero blockbusters – and it seems that Waititi is the only one who has really paid off.
The director came with his own vision and radically turned the franchise on its head: after the dark second installment, he made the eccentric, colorful Ragnarok, complete with aliens, space flights, and his trademark awkward jokes. Thor is no longer a somber god, but a grown-up child who hides his own inability to make serious decisions behind fake pathos.
You can blame Waititi all you want for turning Thor (and Loki and Hulk, too) into clowns and turning the adventures of the God of Thunder into a circus. That's true, but first of all, it's funny, and secondly, there's still a lot more soul in Taika's ironic movie than there was in the previous two serious installments.
9. Next Goal Wins, 2023
Taika Waititi's comedy Next Goal Wins remained on a shelf for three long years after filming was finally completed.
Based on a true story, the American Samoa national football team, one of the worst in history in terms of goal difference, hires Dutchman Thomas Rongen as head coach. The professional is asked to do the impossible – lead a team of not very talented players to the World Cup.