28 Years Later (2025)

With Danny Boyle back in the director's chair and Alex Garland back on writing duties, it's safe to say that 28 Years Later was one of the films I was most looking forward to seeing this year. That level of expectation also brings some anxiety though. What if it just ended up being not very good.

28 Year Later is not very good. It's pretty brilliant. And it's nice to see marketing that, for once, ends up helping to mislead people and tie in to the main themes being explored (perception and misplaced faith being the elements that stood out to me).

It is, as you'd guess from the title, 28 years since the rage virus first took hold of people in the UK, as shown in a wild and horrific opening sequence. Europe managed to fight it back, leaving the UK as an isolated infected zone. Small pockets of people have come up with ways to survive, including one group living on Holy Island, which is separated from the mainland by a causeway only usable when the tide isn't high. This is where young Spike (Alfie Williams) lives. He's about to be taken to the mainland by his father figure, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), and he'll go through the ritual of his first kill. Meanwhile, Spike's mother, Isla (Jodie Comer), is very ill. Maybe Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) can help her. But Dr. Kelson seems preoccupied with gathering corpses and burning them. Everything also depends on Spike surviving his "hunting trip".

Although I haven't seen any Danny Boyle film that I've not enjoyed, 28 Years Later feels like a bit of a statement announcing his return to bold and adult content after the sweetness and light of Yesterday (a film I enjoyed way more than most people). The opening sequence alone is more disturbing than many other horror movie moments, and there are more grisly times ahead. That's all front and centre, however, as Boyle and Garland start to guide viewers on a journey that moves from the visceral horror to more emotional moments. Rage remains all around, sometimes visible and sometimes not, but the vacuum it creates is soon filled with memories and sadness. And memories aren't the same for everyone, depending on how you have viewed certain events.

I could spend hours dissecting a number of key scenes here, but let's just say that it's a testament to the power of the work that this proves to be so moving and thought-provoking, after ensuring that the requisitie scares and tension have been delivered. Not everyone will appreciate the directions that the movie goes in, but it's impossible to deny the confidence and boldness of the vision.

Williams is basically the lead of the film, and he's absolutely fantastic in every moment that he's onscreen. Strong when he needs to be, but vulnerable as he's pushed along a very steep learning curve, he's simply a great choice to be the heart of the film, newcomer or not. Taylor-Johnson is fine, and it's certainly easier to appreciate his casting when his character becomes a bit less likeable (I just can't put my finger on it, but Taylor-Johnson would rarely be my first choice for most of his acting roles). Comer works hard around a wobbly accent that wasn't really necessary for her character, but the rest of her performance is as good as you'd expect, and Fiennes gets to enjoy portraying a character who looms large over events even before people actually get to meet him. Most of the other performers play infected individuals, and play them well, although Edvin Ryding has a good couple of moments as a soldier named Erik and Jack O'Connell turns up in a scene that will ensure viewers either love or loathe how this instalment ends.

You get some fun camera tricks (although I couldn't help thinking that one gimmick feels like the same kind of thing that had Uwe Boll being harshly criticised just over 20 years ago), a great selection of music supplied by Young Fathers, and production design and set decoration that consistently help you to view the UK as a place with a very low population and a very high threat level. While I also enjoyed the second movie in this series, this feels like a return to the high of the first film. I'm intrigued to see where things go next.

9/10

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