Film Reviews

June 20, 2025

When movie sequels go off the beaten path vis-à-vis their predecessors, it often feels like an affront, and our instincts are to deride the filmmakers instead of giving them the benefit of the doubt that ensuring a follow-up meets the same standards as the original is probably incredibly hard. That's why sequels often, and usually by design, resort to giving us more of the same. Studios and filmmakers bet on the idea that what worked before should work again, although it's the best ones that mindfully and constructively build on top of the tested formula, attempt to refine and improve it, and hopefully move the story forward instead of around in circles.

"28 Years Later" is fortunately a sequel that's willing to advance the needle of its franchise instead of sitting idly back and letting its forerunners do most of the driving. It's not a complete aberration, or even terribly original when it comes to its methods ("Lost" and "The Last of Us" are just two like texts that come to mind as the story unfolds), but nevertheless, the movie—dark, twisted, gross, unsettling, and even bizarre—is nothing if not interesting, and if you think about where the saga would be at this point, it makes sense what "28 Years Later" dishes out.

In the film, nearly 3 decades—28 years to be exact—have passed since the "rage" virus paralyzed the United Kingdom and turned the majority of the population onto its own, with those infected taking 20 seconds to transform from rational human beings into zombie-like killers, with red eyeballs and an insatiable appetite for flesh and blood. We learned about the virus's origins in "28 Days Later" and witnessed the failed American intervention in "28 Weeks Later." Now the rage has mutated, and along with the "standard" infected, there's a newer, more robust Alpha version, which is taller, stronger, and even semi-intelligent. There is also a lower grade variety, with those in this category being akin to human slugs who slither around and sustain themselves on bugs and worms. The ways to eliminate any of the infected continue to be piercing the head or heart, or to let them simply starve to death.

Through obvious yet still engaging exposition from Alex Garland's screenplay, and via Jon Harris' sometimes jumpy editing, which shows us, among other things, archival military processions and different versions of UK maps (all while Rudyard Kipling's famous poem, "Boots," plays on the soundtrack), director Danny Boyle drops us down into this dystopian, isolated state, in which survivors have all but stepped back in time and are trying their best to rekindle civilization. Other nations outside of the UK are not mentioned (we assume they’re staying away as a means of protection), and we're introduced to a new set of characters that weren't in the previous two installments, which is one of the ways this sequel feels fresh.

On Lindisfarne Island, the population of survivors is small but resolute. Inhabitants have strategically chosen this "Holy Island" because it provides a naturally safe and secure means to and from the contaminated mainland because of its three-mile causeway, which is only walkable at low tide. This is something the film's young hero, 12-year-old Spike (Alfie Williams), indirectly relates to us when he's reciting back to his dad, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), what he needs to do when he goes out on hunts or makes trips off the island to pick up supplies. When the film opens, it is a "special" day for Spike because it marks his inaugural trek across the causeway so he can make his first kill using a bow and arrows.

Spike's initiation makes Jamie proud, but for Spike's bedridden mother, Isla (Jodie Comer), it is a source of tension because she thinks it's dangerous, although her grasp on reality is tenuous at best. She suffers from manic episodes, violent convulsions, and memory loss. She may not even be aware of the present state of the world. Something about Isla is off.

As we might expect, Spike's maiden mainland journey is met with intense moments of action, close calls, horror, and adrenaline, but the kid proves to be a good marksman and learns the environment quickly, and his consternation quickly turns into curiosity. Without giving away too many plot details, Spike eventually finds himself crossing the causeway not as a follower but as a leader and protector, seeking out the guidance of Dr. Kelson (a typically strong and impressively touching Ralph Fiennes), whom the other survivors fear, and if they've seen him lately, who could blame them? Kelson has the look of Marlon Brando's Colonel Kurtz from "Apocalypse Now," with a bald head and blood-orange skin (his excuse for the latter is simple: he douses himself in iodine, to which he says almost apologetically, "The virus doesn't like iodine at all."). He also lives in isolation, has big bonfires, and keeps a growing temple of skulls. Still, looks can be deceiving, and it's a shame the people on Lindisfarne aren't more open to Kelson's knowledge and services; after all, he is the only physician around, and there end up being two main reasons Spike comes to him, both of which lend the film its strong emotional center.

As familiar as many of its elements are, "28 Years Later" is never not watchable. Some scenes feel inevitable, while others are effectively disturbing and unexpected, and we come to appreciate Garland and Boyle (both of whom are returning to the series in a creative capacity after sitting out the second installment) for taking the series in a new direction, beyond the typical urban landscape and routine zombie attack and chase sequences. To be sure, there are times when the movie gives in to gross and disgusting just to get a rise out of us, and some of the digital effects render meshy, such as a long shot of deer running in a herd. I suppose these components add to the rawness of it all, but noticing them took me out of the story. And while I've no doubt Williams will grow into an important actor, I did sense him reaching a bit, particularly in a confrontation between Spike and Jamie. Still, as a child actor who's been charged with carrying most of the movie, and given that this is his first major role, he gives it his all.

Plus, where Williams may fall short, Comer and Fiennes step up to the plate, and their performances, along with the filmmakers taking the dark material seriously, steer "28 Years Later" into something meaningful. Boyle and Garland once again show their specialties for revealing the humanity that often gets buried under our selfish, survivalist natures, and that we typically only see ugly when viewed from afar. At the same time, it reminds us to proceed through the world with caution and that it can be dangerous to trust even those closest to us. Keeping in line with the first two "28" movies, it challenges us and makes us uncomfortable. Plus, the fact that it doesn't end with a traditional good guy-bad guy showdown speaks to its overall thoughtfulness.

About the final scene, all I'll say is that it's a treat, and it is very Danny Boyle-ish, which is a good thing. It seems to come out of nowhere, but if you let it sit with you, it feels right, bringing unforeseen fun and levity to a film that, hitherto to the last five minutes, has centered around despair, mortality, and resilience. And despite its fair share of imperfections and derivations, overall, the movie logically and effectively sets the series up to keep going, and the good thing is, given what we've seen here, it doesn't necessarily make it easy to guess where that will be.