What We Do In The Shadows: Season 1 (2019) Dir: Taika Waititi

The film that this series spawned from is one of my all-time favourites, so it may come as no surprise that I was extremely excited to watch this.

Taika Waititi returns to direct the 10 episode mockumentary series, bringing his recognisable style and almost always hilarious comedy along with him. Few writers or directors have the knack for producing laughs so consistently as Waititi, and this is plain to see in this season.

A new set of characters and a new location allows for a fresh feel, particularly when accompanied by a fun story that knows not to take itself too seriously. That said, Waititi still makes sure to set up a second season and have some running themes throughout the episodes.

The most acclaimed actor in the cast, and one of the protagonists, is Matt Berry. Much like his many other performances, I found him to be absolutely hilarious here. His flamboyant delivery is always bound to produce a laugh, particularly with some well written comedy to work with.

Alongside him is Natasia Demetriou, who is absolutely brilliant in another of the key roles. Her facial expressions are so perfect and helps make a lot of the scenes even funnier as a result. She has to be my favourite character.

Kayvan Novak is an interesting one, in that his character seems quite similar to that of Taika Waititi's in the film, but with a few key differences. That is not a complaint, just something I noticed very early on as far as his role went. In terms of his performance, I thoroughly enjoyed Novak, I think he showed some wonderful comedic timing.

Another key role belongs to Harvey Guillen, who has some of the funniest moments of a very funny series. Guillen has excellent facial expressions and works very well with Novak in particular.

Mark Proksch is the weakest of the key characters, but is still very enjoyable in his role. He clearly understood his character and delivered an increasingly entertaining performance as a result.

Beanie Feldstein is more of a subplot character for much of the season, but gets more screentime as the season progresses. She had moments where she was very funny, but I wasn't totally sold on her character in truth, though that is not necessarily her fault.

I'll also mention the likes of iconic 'creature-specialist' actor Doug Jones, popular comedian Nick Kroll, Kristen Schaal, Jermaine Clement; the show creator and star of the series' predecessor, Jonathan Brugh; also from the prior film and, of course, Taika Waititi; another who acted in the 2014 comedy.

Overall, this series takes all the best bits of the film and carries them forward with arguably more enjoyable characters and a lot of potential for future seasons. I couldn't wait to watch the rest of the show after finishing this debut season.