If life is already a survival game, working might be its hardest level. Waking before the world, facing the mirror in search of an image that inspires confidence — neither too flashy nor invisible — crossing the city in overcrowded transports, and coexisting with people who seem to feed off others’ insecurities are daily occurrences that drain more than hours: they sap patience, hope, and enthusiasm. In this game board, the dream of reconciling joy and livelihood remains, for many, an unattainable goal. But what if it were possible to turn an ordinary routine into a stage for improbable feats? Not for recognition, but to reclaim something more intimate: meaning.
“Day Shift” toys with that fantasy. In a world where daytime jobs serve to disguise far more intense nocturnal existences, the protagonist lives a double truth — and it is this friction that drives the narrative. In J.J. Perry’s directorial debut, coherence takes a backseat to controlled chaos. The story leans into extravagance as a virtue, letting logic yield to a fast-paced rhythm that embraces absurdity. Athletic vampires, unlikely hunters, and acrobatic shootouts stitch together a film that doesn’t care to be believable — it wants to be fun. Beneath the bloodshed lies a man trying to give his daughter what he never had — security, stability, consistent presence. And therein lies the conflict: fatherhood struggling to survive its own absence.
The script by Shay Hatten and Tyler Tice captures Bud Jablonski’s anguish with precision: a man living on the edge, cleaning pools under the Californian sun and hunting the undead by moonlight. Jamie Foxx infuses the character with an energy that doesn’t romanticize exhaustion but makes it dramatically resonant. His battle is less with vampires than with the time slipping through his fingers — time he can’t give to his daughter. The fragility of his marriage to Jocelyn, shaped by a resentment that never hardens into bitterness, reflects the tension between desire and limitation. Zion Broadnax, as Paige, becomes the emotional heart of the story, receiving her father with a maturity that cuts through any moralizing tone. Their bond keeps the film from collapsing into caricature.
There’s also room for unabashed nonsense — and J.J. Perry revels in it. Snoop Dogg brings a calm fury to Big John Elliott, while Dave Franco plays Seth, the handsome, clumsy bureaucrat, a functional role that doesn’t enrich the plot but provides effective comic relief. The opening sequence, violent and choreographed like a spectacle, sets the tone: a parade of creative fights, exaggerated clashes, and a universe where the undead seem less grotesque than the real-life problems haunting the protagonist. Some might search for profound metaphors in each creature lurking in the shadows. But the film, more parody than allegory, knows what it wants — and delivers it without shame.
Beneath the sharpened stakes and bared fangs, “Day Shift” reveals itself as a study of interrupted fatherhoods and the desperate attempt of ordinary men to leave something behind. Bud isn’t driven by glory or heroism: he’s moved by the need to remain a father, even when the world demands he be a killer. The ending doesn’t close a loop or offer revelation, but rather a gesture — a potential reconciliation between the two lives he struggles to balance. And in that subtle move, the film exits as a loud fiction that, beneath the surface, understands silence.
Film: Day Shift
Director: J.J. Perry
Year: 2022
Genres: Action / Horror / Comedy
Rating: 8/10