Almost anyone that’s ever seen a zombie movie, TV show or videogame know that most of the undead creatures follow the same rules – they’re slow, cannibalistic, and can only be killed by damaging their brains.
However, when “28 Days Later” rolled onto the silver screen in 2002, there were a few terrible tweaks made to that shambling horde of horror.
Those zombies were dubbed as infected with a “rage virus” and were faster on their feet than their shambling predecessors, infected normal humans in mere seconds, and could be laid to rest with fatal damage to their hearts as well as their brains.
Now, “28 Years Later” has taken that evolution a step further and laid the ground work for the next two films in the franchise.
28 Years Later is a post-apocalyptic coming-of-age horror film produced and directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland.
The third installment in the 28 Days Later film series, following 28 Days Later (2002) and 28 Weeks Later (2007), it stars Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Alfie Williams, Ralph Fiennes, Sandy Batchelor, and Rocco Haynes.
Years clocks in at 115 minutes long and is rated R for strong bloody violence, grisly images, graphic nudity, language and brief sexuality.
In 2002, during the initial outbreak of the Rage Virus - a young boy named Jimmy (Haynes) flees from his house in the Scottish Highlands after being attacked by his infected family.
He takes shelter at the local church, where he finds his father and local vicar (Batchelor) praying inside.
Believing the outbreak to be the Day of Judgment, Jimmy’s father interprets the virus as a harbinger of the end times.
He gives Jimmy a cross necklace and urges him to flee before allowing himself to be overtaken by the infected, enabling Jimmy to escape.
28 years after the second outbreak, the Rage Virus has been eradicated from continental Europe, while Great Britain remains in indefinite quarantine.
A survivor community lives in Lindisfarne, a tidal island connected by a fortified causeway.
Among them are Jamie (Taylor-Johnson), a scavenger; his wife Isla (Comer), who has an unknown illness; and their 12-year-old son Spike (Williams).
One morning, Jamie takes Spike to the mainland for a coming-of-age hunting ritual since Spike is now 12 years old.
Village leadership reminds Spike of the dangers of leaving the island and while he is free to go beyond, rescue missions will not be launched for those who fail to return.
On the mainland, Spike struggles to take care of his first kill and Jamie takes care of the other infected that crop up while they explore further, coming across an infected branded with the name "Jimmy" inside a dilapidated cottage and encounter a pack of infected led by an Alpha - a mutated variant of the infected who are stronger and more intelligent.
Returning to the cottage to evade the infected, they observe boats patrolling the sea and a distant fire on the mainland.
Stampeding deer trigger the partial collapse of the cottage, and Jamie and Spike return to Lindisfarne across the partially inundated causeway, pursued by the Alpha.
Unfortunately, things have changed for Spike in just 24 hours, and he learns a few things about his parents now that he’s an “adult.”
Spike’s decisions following those revelations pave the way for the next film, “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” that’s set to release in January 2026.
Overall, I found the film made me eager to see where directors Boyle and Garland are taking the next two installments.
