28 Years Later
Danny Boyle and Alex Garland have reunited for the threequel 28 Years Later, which unveils the chilling aftermath of the rage virus. It’s been a long wait for avid fans of the franchise and the results are visceral if uneven.
In a secluded island community in the Scottish Highlands, inhabitants forbid intrusion from outsiders. One such dweller is Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who is desensitised to the horror of the virus and has adopted a survivalist mindset. This is ostensibly to protect his young son, Spike (Alfie Williams), though the pre-teen soon suspects his father has ulterior motives. Spike’s mother, Isla (Jodie Comer), is suffering from a mysterious ailment that causes both physical and mental distress, and she spends much of her life confined to bed.
As the first in the series to be released in a post-pandemic world, there are some not-so-subtle examples of Covid-coded analogies. While Spike, motivated to find a doctor on the mainland, treats his mother’s suffering with compassion, Jamie exhibits antipathy towards her declining health as well as healthcare professionals – he claims there are no doctors left to help. Isla’s condition perhaps alludes to the way some illnesses were neglected while disproportionate attention was given to others during lockdown. There’s also more than a tinge of post-Brexit commentary, with a little Britain cut off from the rest of the world as it strives to return to a rural lifestyle – a quixotic vision of Britishness that leans more on folklore than fact.
Anthony Dod Mantle’s cinematography perfectly captures the eerie solitude of a pandemic-stricken world, his penchant for cinéma vérité well suited to the survivalist horror genre. The sound editing is equally impressive: naturalistic effects are juxtaposed with frantic metal interludes – a deliberately and effectively jarring combination.
However, the pacing is noticeably uneven. The film doesn’t fully commit to its horror lore, flitting inconsistently between gore and emotional storytelling. And while Comer, newcomer Williams and Ralph Fiennes are phenomenal, Taylor-Johnson’s accent – which slips from Geordie to his familiar John Lennon impression – is a tad distracting. That said, he does a fine job of encapsulating the toxic machismo of his stern patriarch.
With 28 Years Later, zombie tropes give way to a more believable world – one overrun not only by the infected, but reclaimed by nature itself. With plenty of gruesome action, guts and gritty cinematography, it’s a worthy instalment in the franchise.
Antonia Georgiou
28 Years Later is released nationwide on 20th June 2025.
Watch the trailer for 28 Years Later here:
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