Movie Reviews // 28 Years Later

Danny Boyle is back in peak form directing the third installment of his zombie franchise with 28 Years Later. Written by Alex Garland, this film approaches the horror genre with a fresh perspective that could only be hard-won by living through a world-wide pandemic. It is clear that Boyle and Garland have spent a lot of time since the second installment in 2007 mulling over the next film’s subject matter and Covid provided a new framework with which to approach the genre. The resulting film is a masterful addition that strikes all of the right notes from humorous to heartbreaking and includes noteworthy acting performances that elevate the film into something iconoclastic. Boyle has been credited with reinventing the zombie genre in 2002 and he has managed to do it once again. 

The film is visually stunning with scenes that will take the audience’s breath away and others that are so singularly designed that they are guaranteed to find their way into memes and Halloween costumes for generations of horror fans to come. The cinematography is notable because Boyle used a novel new method to capture the story on film—utilizing an array of 20 iPhones, proving once again with this franchise that he is a true visionary. The film is interspersed with archival footage that serves to ramp up the tension and give historical context to the Rage virus that we learn was eventually contained with Great Britain being quarantined ever since. Survivors on the island are left to fend for themselves.

A group of survivors thrives on a tiny island off the coast of the mainland living in a feudal society where the children are trained from a young age to hunt zombies. Spike (played by Alfie Williams) is having a coming-of-age ceremony where he heads to the zombie infested mainland with his father (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson) to go on his first hunt. The small society is divided into those adults who lived through the horrors of the rage virus and the isolated youngsters who have only ever known a world with the threat of zombies. Spike has no context for the broader world that seems to have moved on beyond the virus. Spike’s first hunt leads him to return to the mainland with his ailing mother (played by Jodie Comer) in search of a rumored doctor where they encounter an evolved type of zombie called an alpha that is larger, stronger, and faster than other zombies.

The zombies have mostly lost their clothes in the last 28 years, leaving hordes of completely nude, mud-caked zombies that run in packs hunting for their next meal. Spike and his mother encounter Dr. Kelson (played by Ralph Fiennes) who has a well-earned reputation for being insane. This character is played to perfection by Fiennes in a performance so powerful that it evokes shades of Marlon Brando’s legendary Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now. When the mother and son meet Dr. Kelson he is a vivid orange color because he coats himself in iodine to thwart the virus, this choice is visually stunning on the big screen and serves to make Dr. Kelson an instantly iconic and unsettling figure.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson delivers what is arguably the best performance of his career so far as Spike’s father who seeks to protect him from the harsh realities of the world. Jodie Comer’s performance is so beautifully subtle as someone who is losing touch with reality but still has the heart of a loving mother. Alfie Williams is brilliant as Spike in a natural performance that exudes innocence and curiosity.

The music in 28 Years Later departs from the atmospheric sounds of the first two films with a brilliant score by Scottish prog hip hop group Young Fathers. It manages to be both surprising and fresh without pulling the viewers out of the film experience.

The film ends in a way that sets up the next installment 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple beautifully, bringing in characters that have been hinted at for observant viewers through the course of this movie. The Bone Temple was filmed back-to-back with this movie with a new director, Nia DeCosta. A third film is slated for the franchise with Garland planned to direct.

As someone who saw 28 Days Later in the theater in 2002 and loved how it breathed new life into the genre, it’s exciting to see this new offering expand on the world in a way that deepens the story with lived experience in this freshly post-pandemic world. 28 Years Later is arguably the best film in the franchise so far with its stunning visuals and superb acting, a feat that is hard to achieve in a world of sequels and reboots that can often feel more like unnecessary cash crabs than genuine exercises in original storytelling. Boyle and Garland took some big chances with this film, and this paid off in major ways, resulting in one of the best zombie films ever made.