28 Years Later is absolutely gut-wrenching. A chaotic journey through isolation, grief and survival in this uniquely horrid dystopia. It has surprisingly funny moments, a compelling coming of age story, and brutal violence featuring the most disgustingly raw zombie imagery ever put to film. All of this delivers a level of insanity that has clearly carried across from the previous films.
The film follows the survivors of a deadly rage virus living in a heavily guarded isolated community. When a young boy, Spike (Alfie Williams) departs on a mission into the mainland, he confronts horrors, secrets and wonders that have mutated the infected and other survivors as well.
Danny Boyle directs the film and is reunited with Alex Garland in jointly writing the script after they wrote the first film, “28 Days Later” together.
Garland and Boyle’s script blends genres throughout the film. It can almost feel draining at times. Straddling between close-up zombie action and full-throttle fight scenes, to more intimate scenes. Its most memorable moments feature no zombies at all, instead offering a sombre and deeply sad reflection on survival, loss and grief.
Captured using a variety of cameras, key scenes were even shot using an iPhone 15 Pro. This decidedly experimental cinematography delivers on Danny Boyle’s promise to bring the film back to its handheld and scrappy roots. Even still, the iPhone’s impressive capabilities lend themselves well to the film’s visual style, switching between intimate close-ups and fast-paced handheld action. Cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle at one point mounted 20 iPhones to a single rig to capture the most intense chase scene of the movie.
Much of the composition is reminiscent of experimental films like “Koyaanisqatsi” (1982, Godfrey Reggio) or “Samsara” (2011, Ron Fricke). And some of the more chaotic editing was derived from a regression to the ’28” trilogy’s core theme of madness, some of which can be traced back to the mad cow disease epidemic and its cultural influence on the region. The fast-cutting editing, and use of jump cuts make you feel as though you’re watching a series of montages or a trailer at times, but ultimately the film balances this in way that was closer to artistry than nonsense.
The emotional core of the story follows young boy Spike (Alfie Williams), whose journey touches on a number of wide human experiences including camaraderie, terminal illness, conflict, and grieving. Williams delivers a great performance which is endearing and easy to empathise with.
Boyle and Garland’s script is also surprisingly funny at the most unexpected moments. Some witty humour with Edvin Ryding leads the audience to erupt in laughter without taking away from the emotion of the rest of the film.
Boyle’s use of sound has a particular focus, with a variety of well-chosen and unexpected songs that challenge audience expectations. It also features a reading of the poem “Boots”, featured in the trailer.
Perhaps most interesting is the vague but clever way the script deals with the dystopian society the characters live in. At the beginning of the film, it is briefly explained that the catastrophic failure of foreign aid attempts in the second film, “28 Weeks Later”, mean the world has largely given up on assisting the British Isles. Instead, they hold them under strict 24/7 naval quarantine.
This creates a uniquely dystopian setting that is at once awfully isolating and painfully disconnected from the modern world but is interjected with hints that a more complex and real world is just beyond the borders. The action is quite realistic, if not dramatic, given some liberties about the realism of the Rage virus itself. Only two action scenes may leave you confused (spoiler: it was the gas station explosion scene, and the scene with the golf club warriors).
28 Years Later is a great thriller, and the plot is quite consistent with the lore of the rest of the trilogy. A brilliantly written dystopian vision, that thoughtfully reflects on survival, while delivering heart-stopping moments, jump scares, and a gory zombie action.
28 Years Later releases in Australian cinemas on June 19th, 2025, from Sony Pictures.
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