30 Days of Night is set in the remote Alaskan town of Barrow, a place that experiences a full month of darkness every winter. As the final sunrise disappears, most residents leave for safer areas, but a small group stays behind, including Sheriff Eben Oleson and his estranged wife Stella, who becomes stranded after missing the last flight out. At first, the darkness seems normal, but strange events begin to unfold—phones destroyed, sled dogs slaughtered, and power cut across the town. Eben senses something far more sinister is coming, though no one can imagine the scale of the threat.
When a mysterious stranger arrives, he warns the townspeople that death is coming for them. Eben arrests him, but it is already too late. A group of ancient, terrifying vampires descends on Barrow, moving through the streets with inhuman speed and ripping apart anyone they find. The town quickly collapses into chaos. Eben, Stella, Eben’s brother Jake, and a handful of survivors manage to hide in an attic, where they must remain completely silent to avoid detection. With no sun for almost a month, the vampires are free to hunt relentlessly, making escape nearly impossible.
As days pass, the survivors struggle with dwindling supplies, exhaustion, and the emotional toll of watching their community destroyed. The vampires, led by the cold and calculating Marlow, speak in an ancient tongue and treat humans as mere prey. They sabotage generators, eliminate hiding places, and ensure no signals can be sent for help. Inside the attic, tensions rise as fear and claustrophobia creep in. Eben takes on the responsibility of keeping everyone alive, though he secretly doubts their chances.
Eventually, the group is forced to relocate after one of the survivors suffers a breakdown and endangers them all. Moving through the dark, snow-covered ruins of Barrow, they encounter horrifying scenes of destruction and narrowly avoid the vampires several times. Hope briefly appears when they discover a working vehicle, but the vampires destroy it before they can flee. Desperation deepens as the survivors realize they may not last until sunrise.
When the vampires decide to burn the town to cover their massacre, Eben understands that only a bold sacrifice can save Stella and the remaining survivors. He injects himself with infected blood, turning into a vampire hybrid with enough strength to confront Marlow. In a brutal final fight, Eben manages to kill the vampire leader, stunning the others and giving the survivors a chance to reach safety.
As the long-awaited sun finally rises, Eben begins to burn, choosing to die in Stella’s arms rather than become a monster. The film ends with a somber but powerful sense of survival, loss, and the price of heroism amid unimaginable darkness.
