28 Years Later (2025)
Directed by: Danny Boyle
Premise: The third film in the 28 Days Later series. Decades after the events of the second film, the British Isles are under quarantine to contain the Rage Virus. A town of survivors live on a tidal island and make trips to the mainland in search of supplies.
What Works: The 28 Days Later series has been distinguished by its style and vivid world building and those qualities are carried into the third installment. The Rage Virus turns infected people into rabid, zombie-like killers and these films are vicious, emphasizing the animalistic qualities of the violence as well as the primal fear of infection. 28 Years Later continues these qualities. Filmmaker Danny Boyle directed the original film which was released in 2002. For his return, Boyle utilizes some of the cinematic techniques that he has adopted since then such as jump cuts and insert shots which liven up the material and create unpredictable rhythms. For all its violence and grimness, 28 Years Later is also frequently beautiful. The filmmakers use the natural environment well and the movie includes some impressive images of the actors against the night sky. This series is adjacent to the zombie genre and like those films the 28 Days Later stories deal with the collapse of civilization and the search for home and family. While the other two films did that more effectively there are some poignant moments at the end of the picture.
What Doesn’t: 28 Years Later is the third entry in this series but it is also the start of a planned sequel trilogy. The filmmakers’ larger plans distract from telling a complete and satisfying story in the present movie. The scenes setting up the upcoming installments come across tagged on. The pacing of 28 Years Later is off. The story lacks a sense of momentum, often lurching forward and then flattening out. Part of the problem is the lack of a coherent or compelling goal. The story centers on a twelve-year-old boy (Alfie Williams) whose mother (Jodie Comer) is seriously ill. He absconds with her to the mainland in search of a doctor. This journey comes fairly late into the movie and the boy and his mother don’t face any meaningful challenges together nor do they bond or redefine their relationship in ways that are interesting. One of the surprising changes to 28 Years Later is the music. The first two movies were scored by John Murphy who created an iconic score that was central to the identity of this franchise. 28 Years Later is scored by Young Fathers and while their music is fine, it isn’t as memorable.
Bottom Line: 28 Years Later is a mixed sequel. It continues a lot of what viewers enjoyed about the previous entries but the filmmakers are preoccupied with setting up future installments and 28 Years Later is not nearly as compelling or as well executed as its predecessors.
Episode: #1056 (July 13, 2025)