28 Years Later

Movie Name: 28 Years Later
Year of Release: 2025
Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: Alfie Williams, Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Ralph Fiennes, Jack O'Connell, Christopher Fullford, Edvin Ryding, Chi Lewis-Parry, Sandy Batchelor
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
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Synopsis and Review

In the last decade director Danny Boyle hasn't been the most prolific when it comes to releasing feature films, having only directed "Steve Jobs", "Trainspotting 2", and "Yesterday", with the latter one not being particularly well received. "28 Years Later" marks a return to a universe he started in 2002 with "28 Days Later", which was also the introductory card for actor Cillian Murphy, who is one of the executive producers of this film. The narrative takes place nearly thirty years after the events of the original film. The rage virus has been eradicated from Europe, and is now confined to the British Islands, who are being quarantined from the rest of the world. One of the surviving communities has set up a series of rules which has enabled them to survive without the virus. Spike, a 12 year old boy goes with his father on a rite of passage, back to the main Island, in order to hunt. During their journey they encounter a few infected, with some being a substantially different kind of infected, a group Spike's father brands as Alpha: they are stronger and more intelligent than the others. While they manage to escape, and return to their community, Spike learns some valuable lessons, about the infected and also about himself. While his father has issues dealing with Isla's ailment (Spike's mother), and is already cavorting with other people in the group, Spike learns that there's a surviving Doctor (by the name of Kelson) in the main island, who can potentially help his mother with her disease, that no one really knows what it is. Pushing past his father, and creating a distracting incident to obscure his intentions, Spike takes off with his mom towards the main Island, seeking Kelson and a possible salvation for her. 

This chapter of this series is not so much a sequel, but more a reinvention and expansion of what the original film set in motion. What was so uniquely arresting from the first film, aside from the premise of the rage virus spreading rapidly and creating hordes of zombie-like creatures, was the fact that it was grounded on the point of view of a survivor who had not witnessed the demise of society, someone who had to relearn how to live in a completely different world. In this chapter, we witness this reality through the perspective of a young boy who has known nothing but this world where the virus robs people of their lives, but more so, robs the people on the islands of what it means to live in a civilized society. If the first film was about developing a plan to stay alive, this one is more about maintaining life as it is, avoiding the perils of the virus. The film has a tone that is very different than the prior chapters of the series, reminding at times of Robin Hardy's "The Wicker Man", in the sense that it takes the characters, and us with them, across this very British scenery that is both bucolic, but also dangerous and potentially lethal. The film's chapters are very clearly divided, but where the film takes a considerable leap is with it's last two chapters. This occurs courtesy of a more satisfying emotional dynamic between the characters, and the introduction of Dr. Kelson, who also brings a slightly different perspective of living in this new reality. The last two chapters of the film allow for both Spike and Isla to become more than just clichés, and bring Kelson who is a catalyst that jolts the narrative, and even adds a bit of mysticism to the existence in which they are now. Sadly not much time is spent with Kelson, but the last sections of the film are a much needed jolt that reenergizes what was otherwise a rather commonplace beginning to the narrative and to the film itself. Gone is the frantic handheld tone that "28 Days Later" galvanized, replaced with a different take and reflection on living in a new society, one that persists with the heritage of the past, at times almost suffocated by it. The cast tries their best with this material, even if character development wasn't necessarily the main concern for Alex Garland. Ralph Fiennes and Alfie Williams are the most memorable performances and characters in the film. Anthony Dod Mantle's cinematography is beautiful, as is the score from Young Fathers. It's not a sequel that many may be expecting, but maybe it's the sequel that is needed, particularly for the times we're currently living.