Review of 28 Years Later
28 Years Later (2025) Dir. Danny Boyle
Days became weeks. Weeks Became years. In 28 Years Later the rage virus that infected the United Kingdom has evolved, creating new types of zombies that are more brutal and merciless than before.
Set in rural England, an island of survivors is just about getting by. When a father brings his son to the mainland for the first time, they are ambushed by the mysteries of the mainland. What is an Alpha? What is a Bone Temple? All whilst trying to survive hordes of rage filled monsters.
The iconic duo of Academy award winning director Danny Boyle and Academy award Nominated writer Alex Garland reunite after 18 years, to make the 3rd film in the 28 ... later franchise, and this film does not disappoint. Like the title suggests this film takes place 28 years after the rage virus outbreak in the United Kingdom, offering a significant time jump between the 2nd film 28 Weeks later and this film. Since then, the world has put into place a country wide quarantine on the United Kingdom, everyone left in the UK must fend for themselves.
28 Days Later (the 1st film in the franchise) is a British classic for so many reasons. It popularised the fast-moving zombies, became a part of the British zeitgeist, but most notably it was very experimental with its filming techniques. 28 days was filmed with a Canon XL1 digital video camera, which is essentially a camcorder. This gave the first film a very lived in/grungy feel, it was grainy and highly manoeuvrable. 28 years follows suit, with the film mostly being filmed with iPhone 15 Pro Max’s. Which absolutely gives 28 Years a distinct look and feel to it. It allows the filmmakers to move fast with minimal equipment, giving the film a very chaotic vibe when entering the action filled segments.
Whilst there are fewer zombie action scenes compared to 28 days, the action scenes in 28 years are significantly more brutal. The practical and visual effects have massively improved since 2002, and Boyle uses these advancements to it’s full extent. The Alpha zombie has a signature kill move which I shall not spoil, but seeing it on the big screen was horrifying every single time it happened.
The performances are mostly amazing. Jodie Comer and Ralph Fiennes were the absolute stand outs for me. Comer once again does great accent work, and plays her role very empathetically, her character is absolutely the beating heart of this film. It is hard to talk about her character without ruining her plotline, but the events she must go through is heartbreaking. Fiennes plays an eccentric scientist so well and you could just tell that he is having a great time with the material he’s been given. Even though he comes across as quite friendly, Fiennes' character also feels so eerie and untrustworthy.
In addition, this is Alfie Williams first role in a feature film, and he is incredible. This whole film centres around him, he is the main character. There was not a single second where I wasn’t impressed with his performance. Unfortunately, Aaron Taylor-Johnson's performance is easily the worst part of this film. His character constantly feels over acted with a complete tonal divide between him and the vibe of the film.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson's performance brings down the entire first half of the film in my opinion. Whilst the first half does have interesting concepts and good scenes, every time Taylor-Johnson speaks it completely takes me out of the scene and makes me unengaged with the story. Luckily, he doesn’t appear much in the second half, and coincidently the second half is much stronger than the first. The theme of family in the second half is really nailed home, and the emotional beats hit even harder.
As well as having this sense of exploration that I really liked. But the ending of this film is just bizarre, it is a massive genre shift that I don’t think works with the rest of the film. It is obvious set up for the next film, which is directed by Nia DeCosta. I may feel differently about the ending when the new film comes out next year. But for now, it just has me feeling bewildered.
It is hard for sequels to live up to iconic films such as 28 Days Later. Whilst 28 Years Later does have some glaring issues, it is still a wildly entertaining watch, filled with tense action packed scenes, as well as intimate emotional moments. I also think it is important to note that this film is very different in tone to 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later. So, if you are going into this movie expecting more of the classic vibe, you may feel disappointed.
★★★★
4 / 5
Jacob Holmes
Instagram: _jacob.holmes
Letterboxd: https://boxd.it/2vL6V
