Sony Pictures releases 28 Years Later in UK cinemas on June 19, 2025.
Synopsis
It’s been almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory, and now, still in a ruthlessly enforced quarantine, some have found ways to exist amidst the infected. One such group of survivors lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily-defended causeway. When one of the group leaves the island on a mission into the dark heart of the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors as well.
Review
In 2002 the zombie sub-genre of horror was upended by a small British upstart which refused to play by the rules. Shot using Mini-DV camcorders. Stealing empty moments on London streets at dawn. Defying casting conventions. 28 Days Later became an instant icon of British cinematic history. 23 years later its director, Danny Boyle, and screenwriter Alex Garland are returning to post-apocalyptic Britain for a continuation which once again refuses to conform to its peers.
28 Years Later seeks to continue the franchise trailblazing legacy by simultaneously hooking in new viewers and bringing along long-time fans. The film opens in the early days of the infection. We’re back in the early 00’s as a group of kids anxiously watch Tellytubbies whilst their parents are picked off one by one off screen. The scene puts the audience right back in the tension of watching 28 Days Later for the first time. It’s visceral, frantic and overflowing with blood-spewing infected. But then something interesting happens. We get our first glimpse at a whiplash-inducing reaction from a non-infected character which causes us to sit up and pay closer attention.
The action promptly shifts to 28 years later and the setting of Holy Island just off the coast of Northumberland. Here we meet Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), his 12 year-old son Spike (Alfie Williams) and ailing mother Isla (Jodie Comer). Their island is only connected to the mainland by a huge causeway meaning they’ve been able to completely shelter from infection. Here life flourishes and a community has found a way to move forwards. But it only takes a second to see what lies beneath its surface. The men take on hunter-gatherer roles whilst the women are more traditional homemakers. An observation underpinned by a sometimes confusing recurring montage of shots from Laurence Olivier’s 1944 classic, Henry V.
There’s clearly something medically wrong with Isla as Comer puts in a spirited performance of something akin to schizophrenia. Her performance is a standout amongst an already strong ensemble. But this isn’t a plot point for act one. Instead she’s largely sidelined as Jamie resolves to take young Alfie to the mainland for the first time. A rite of passage for islanders in getting the opportunity to make their first infected kill. Some think he’s too young. But Jamie, consistently portrayed with a seething arrogance and need to impress, is adamant his son can handle the pressure. Taylor-Johnson’s competent performance feeds perfectly in to creating a character raised in this new world landscape.
On the mainland the two encounter the two prevailing types of infected. The slow, now looking bloated, more grotesque. They’re easy to kill giving Spike a relatively easy first kill. Then there’s the speedy ones. The ones 28 Years Later dropped like a molotov cocktail on to the zombie genre. In the near three-decades since the outbreak they’ve begun to regain some of their faculties. Still driven by rage they’re now muscle-bound, naked killing machines. But they also move in packs now and are controlled by an Alpha. The pinnacle of infected culture. We meet a couple of Alpha’s across the film’s near two-hour runtime and they’re brutal. They’re also the closest 28 Years Later comes to recreating the sheer terror of the original film.
After spotting a fire on the horizon of the mainland Spike learns of the existence of Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes). A former GP of whom the islanders are incredibly wary. The buildup to meeting Kelson lays strong expectations for Fiennes performance. Expectations which are blown sky high when he finally takes the spotlight. Acting as an axle to pivot the film, the reveal of Dr. Kelson leads Spike to return to the mainland. Only this time he takes Isla with him and not Jamie. Leaving behind the safety of the island in an effort to cure whatever it is he believes may be killing his mother. Their journey takes them further in to the mainland and this opens up more opportunities for interactions with the infected. But even this perilous journey ends up relatively tame. A run in with infected at a petrol station introduces the pair to NATO solider Erik (Edvin Ryding) who provides some comedic relief. The biggest shock of their journey comes when they stumble across a pregnant infected going in to labour.
Herein lies what ultimately becomes my biggest issue with 28 Years Later. Alex Garland has always been a politically astute writer. Last year’s Civil War showed just how razor sharp and relevant his writing still is. But 28 Years finds itself with almost too much to say. The film is all too aware it exists to entertain a post-covid audience. We’ve lived through the real 28 Days Later experience and so the film needs to acknowledge that. But it’s also distracted by sentiments on Brexit, isolationism and assisted suicide alongside its observations on hypermasculinity. The original’s power lay in its forward-looking dread, using horror to illuminate the destructive trajectory of human anger. Instead 28 Years Later opts for a more didactic approach. Trading the original’s nuanced warning for blunt moral finger-wagging about contemporary society.
Compounding frustrations is the final half hour of 28 Years Later. The film ejects its considered pacing entirely. Kicking in to sudden overdrive and causing audience whiplash in the process. Dr. Kelson and Isla make baffling choices which hurtle the story in to setting up the already completed sequel, The Bone Temple. It introduces new elements at the 11th hour which leave the audience confused rather than enthused about what comes next. It also introduces new characters in a tonally bonkers sequence which is more WTF than FTW. These whiplash choices seem to stand at odds with the contemplative tone Garland traditionally employs.
Verdict
28 Years Later struggles under the weight of its own ambitions, trading the original’s prophetic dread for heavy-handed social commentary. While Jodie Comer and Ralph Fiennes deliver standout performances and the evolved infected provide genuine scares, Alex Garland’s screenplay feels more concerned with lecturing contemporary audiences than crafting the nuanced warning that made 28 Days Later a masterpiece.
⭐⭐⭐
