28 Years Later Review

Directed By: Danny Boyle
Written By: Alex Garland
Runtime: 115 minutes
MPA Rating: Rated R for strong bloody violence, grisly images, graphic nudity, language and brief sexuality.

Alfie Williams – Spike
Aaron Taylor-Johnson – Jamie
Jodie Comer – Isla
Ralph Fiennes – Dr. Kelson
Christopher Fulford – Sam
Edvin Ryding – Erik Sundqvist
Amy Cameron – Rosey
Rocco Haynes – Young Jimmy
Jack O’Connell – Jimmy Crystal

Filmmaker Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland return to their iconic, influential post-apocalyptic horror saga, 28 Days Later, with its new sequel, 28 Years Later As the title suggests, the new storyline picks up 28 years after the events of the first film, which saw the United Kingdom fall to a horrific virus, the Rage Virus. An introductory text crawl hand waves away the ending of 2007’s 28 Weeks Later, claiming that somehow, the world governments were able to push back the Rage Virus after it reached continental Europe at the end of the previous sequel.

28 Years Later resets the plot to where the last movie almost didn’t happen. The Rage Virus has been contained to the United Kingdom, and the outside world closely monitors and patrols the island. No one gets in, and no one gets out. Years later, a small island village off the coast of England has managed to form a relatively peaceful and thriving community. Resources are slim, but due to the island’s isolation, the town leaders keep it heavily guarded, and a narrow causeway is its only connection to the mainland. With the island cut off from the rest of the civilized world, a whole generation of children was born and raised on the island after the Rage Virus tore the country asunder.

The story genuinely follows young twelve-year-old Spike (Williams). When children come of age, they must be taken off the island and to the mainland as a rite of passage. Spike’s father, Jamie, serves as his guide to the mainland, and the purpose of the journey is for Spike to earn his first kills of the infected, rather than scavenging for resources. Their initial journey reveals that the Rage Virus and its victims have taken unexpected turns with new variants. Some of the infected humans become bloated and obese, making them much slower and easier to kill. However, the Rage Virus has also spawned “Alpha” variants, who are stronger, faster, and more intelligent than the typical infected humans.

Spike grows distasteful of his father’s exaggeration of their exploits, showing more concern for his sickly mother, Isla (Comer), who appears to suffer from a serious ailment, but their community has no modern medicine or means to treat her. After learning about another survivor on the mainland who was previously a doctor, Spike takes Isla back to the treacherous, plagued territory with the slim hope of finding the reclusive Dr. Kelson (Fiennes) to save his mother.

28 Years Later is a flawed, yet interesting, sequel. It’s nice to see Boyle and Garland, as the franchise’s original creators, return to the terrifying post-apocalyptic world they created. Boyle still shows a gift for crafting some intensely terrifying, nerve-wracking, and suspenseful sequences. Unfortunately, he does throw in one cheaply cliché jump scare. The new world-building elements and revelations about the Rage Virus and its variants add intriguing elements to the saga.

28 Years Later suffers because it does not function like a fully-formed, standalone narrative. The plot unfolds more like an episodic television series strung together into a feature format. A significant chunk of the narrative, specifically the plot’s bookends, serves only to set up future installments, which have already been announced. Even as the first chapter in a multi-part story, it lacks a sufficient climax or defining third act. It would not be surprising if someone in the production later reveals that the new trilogy was planned as a television series, but instead was condensed into three films. Garland’s script undergoes underwhelming diversions that do not add much to the overall plot, specifically when the travelers meet a Swedish soldier, Eryk (Ryding). The film also contains an interesting reveal with Isla that plays like it’s foreshadowing something else to happen later on, but it never comes.

Ralph Fiennes delivers the best performance in the film as the spiritual Dr. Kelson. He serves an interesting function within the narrative. Dr. Kelson has found an odd type of serenity in the rage zombie apocalypse. He is the individual behind the bone tower featured in the marketing materials. Although the structure looks frightening and grotesque, Dr. Kelson eventually reveals its true purpose. Kelson is the only character who provides a semblance of answers and clarity amid the chaos and death, and perhaps, he’s the only one who has found a just purpose in post-apocalyptic England.

Dr. Kelson says something quite profound to Spike after their meeting, noting that the infected and non-infected humans are alike. It’s a quiet, simple line, but it encapsulates the entire saga. At the end of the day, the infected are humans. And what are the rage-infected humans but a microcosm of our own propensity for unchecked rage, violence, and barbarism? Remember, in the first film, the scientists who created the rage plague sought to cure humanity’s rage and aggression. The rage before the apocalypse in 28 Days Later already existed within all of us.

Aflie Williams delivers a strong performance as Spike in a fascinating coming-of-age story. Williams displays inspiring empathy and kindness in the darkest of circumstances. It will be interesting to see what horrors and terror he will endure next. Spike’s home village portrays a darker side when Spike and Jamie return home from their journey. The revels and decadence of the villagers present an ominous sense of foreboding and pure dread.

The quality of 28 Years Later might ultimately hinge upon its two upcoming sequels. It’s an intense horror-thriller with some interesting world-building elements, despite the haphazard way it rectifies the events of 28 Weeks Later. However, the story is somewhat disjointed and incomplete. Longtime fans of the franchise will likely still be pleased.

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

28 Years Later works as an interesting, yet flawed, continuation of the original, jumping twenty-eight years later in the timeline. The film handles the dark ending of the previous sequel in a disappointing manner, but it adds some interesting world-building elements. Ralph Fiennes delivers a stunning performance as the fascinating Dr. Kelson, serving as a weirdly idiosyncratic, yet benevolent, spiritual guide in a country torn apart by a deadly plague. 28 Years Later suffers from serving as more of an introduction for later entries, ending with a feeling of an incomplete story that lacks a defining climax and third act.