Review: '28 Years Later' is a triumphant return, one of the scariest films of the year

"I need a shower and a lot of CBD."
Putting it lightly, this was my instant message reaction to my colleagues leaving the cinema after 28 Years Later. Fingernails bitten to hell, I was a film critic shooketh to the core after seeing director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland reunite almost 28 years following their horrifying, groundbreaking, genre-disrupting 2002 film 28 Days Later.
Since this series launched its grisly, running zombies, wildly popular series like The Walking Dead and The Last of Us, and celebrated films like Train to Busan, satisfyingly filled the undead landscape onscreen. But Garland and Boyle bring fresh scares and existential dread, reminding audiences of the legacy their 2002 hit wrought.
SEE ALSO: Should you watch '28 Days Later' and '28 Weeks Later' before '28 Years Later'?
One of the most unrelenting and scariest films of the year, 28 Years Later deserves the largest screen and sound system you can find — and serious guts. Almost three decades later, we're so back(bone).
Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Spike (Alfie Williams) find their mettle tested. Credit: Sony Pictures
Since the Rage Virus-infected doomed the United Kingdom in 28 Days Later, the country has been left to fester in its own pétri dish of irate contagion for about 30 years. Survivors are left to fend for themselves, with no international aid in sight. In fact, European quarantine boats patrol the surrounding seas making sure Britain knows where its own damned perimeter is (the word "Brexit" does not come up in this film, but come on…). In this doomscape, a small community has fortified an island off the coast of England, protected from the undead by the tides, sturdy walls, and a wealth of traditional grassroots design (thanks to production and costume designers Carson McColl and Gareth Pugh).
Key resources for "Holy Island" lie on the mainland, a place deemed a rite of passage for younger residents to visit, including 12-year-old Spike (a solemn, raw performance from newcomer Alfie Williams). There's just one rule: If you leave and don't return, no one is allowed to venture across the causeway and rescue you. While his mother, Isla (an exceptional Jodie Comer), lies undiagnosed with illness and enduring her own private hell, Spike and his father, Jamie (an intense and sweary Aaron Taylor-Johnson) venture to the mainland for some father-son bonding and find nothing awry at all. Everything's peachy! Yeah, this is a 28 Days film, you know it's not.
On the mainland, Spike and Jamie find their mettle tested in myriad dreadful ways. As expected, these rolling English hills are flush with infected, bloodthirsty humans, some of whom have unexpectedly evolved into new variations including the petrifying "Alphas". But there's smoke on the horizon, with the mystery of this ever-burning fire tempting Spike's curiosity further from the safety of his island home.
You'll want to be back on that island pretty damn quick. Credit: Sony Pictures
As a zombie film following in the footsteps of one of the most celebrated, brutal, and barbarous horror films of the 2000s, 28 Years Later holds nothing back on the violence scale, tween protagonist be damned! Boyle and Garland pull more than one skull-attached spine out of the hat throughout the film, throwing explosive blood spatters across television sets playing the Teletubbies, and teasing a mountain of skulls looming ahead, each moment a visceral strike for the viewer.
This dizzying onscreen violence is bolstered by Boyle's signature brand of disruptive filmmaking. In one of the most striking sequences of the film, Boyle and editor Jon Harris take what might be a simple scene of Spike's first moments on the mainland and turn it into a frenetic, splintered montage. Intercut with father and son marching across an abandoned beach is a barrage of archival footage of child soldiers, clips from Laurence Olivier's 1944 Shakespeare adaptation Henry V (a movie "conceived as a wartime morale-booster" for British audiences during World War II), and the urgent, desperate voiceover of British writer Rudyard Kipling's 1903 war poem "Boots," which was also used in the film's riveting trailer.
SEE ALSO: 20 of the best British horror films
It's a distressing, abrasive, political sequence promising horrifying violence, shattered innocence, and national collapse. Even if you can't place the references in the footage you can feel the dread. At the film's start, Boyle has you both unsure and knowing full well what's to come, and it ain't good for Spike and his family.
Uh, hey... Credit: Sony Pictures
Doyle reteams with cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, who employed a famously rogue use of digital camcorders for both extreme close-ups and lonely wide shots in 28 Days Later. His new innovation is a mix of cameras that include a flotilla of 20 adapted iPhone 15s to create a bullet-time effect on some moments of pivotal violence, recalling the mind-blowing effect in The Matrix. Using these handheld devices all rigged up, Mantle deploys both distorted and awe-inspiring camera angles using Boyle's beloved sprawling 2.76:1 widescreen aspect ratio.
Vile close-ups of the infected slurping away on various fleshy business deliver all the juicy disgust of Dennis Quaid eviscerating prawns in The Substance. However, Mantle also offers magnificent and terrifying wide shots of our protagonists roaming about the English countryside, akin to those incredible shots of Cillian Murphy wandering through an empty London in the first film. Such a wide frame urges us to recognize how exposed the survivor is in this feral terrain, the constant threat from a grisly death could be behind any tree or over the horizon — or, most terrifyingly, on the horizon. And supporting such fear is the superb sound design from Young Fathers.
It's honestly hard to tell where the diegetic sound starts and ends. Credit: Sony Pictures
Besides the stalking Alphas, 28 Years Later has another villain in Young Fathers. The Scottish hip-hop trio does not appear in the film, but they bring their signature experimental style to a hypnotic and merciless score that functions as an omnipresent threat. Their soundtrack simultaneously hums like a revving vehicle, flickers like a crow pecking at remains, shrieks like a human pursued by some grotesquerie, and echoes like an unidentified beast caterwauling into the night.
With such sinister sounds, the verdant peace of the English countryside is pulverised, and also by the guttural screams of the livid undead. It's honestly hard to tell where the diegetic sound starts and ends, a state that becomes perilous when it comes to the film's outrageous bombardment of effective jump scares. It's a deeply affecting experience, the score and foley functioning as symbiotic beings, with one often indistinguishable from the other and forming one living, breathing entity. Thudding footsteps run parallel to booming drums, screeches and squawks blend with plucked strings, amalgamating into one out-of-body wall of sound that's impossible to escape. It all feels doomed, like the end is extremely fucking nigh — and yet Boyle finds a path of hope in the most unexpected place.
In a landscape heaving with zombie apocalypse media from The Walking Dead to The Last of Us, 28 Years Later manages to declare its footing as an original monster. Magnificently shot, ruthlessly edited, and outrageously scored, it's a rambunctious, grisly, human tale of survival.
Boyle and Garland, with their impeccably talented team and a magnificent cast — led by the young and wondrous Williams — manage to both connect their original creation with the present and forge a terrifying new landscape, one that will stress you out and make a meal of your own fingernails.
28 Years Later his cinemas June 20.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

The Verge

21 minutes ago

• The Verge

28 Years Later is a bleak fever dream with rage pumping through its veins

While it wasn't the first film to feature fast-moving ghouls, there is no denying how much of an impact 28 Days Later had on modern zombie movies. It was a gripping and nauseating wonder, whose action felt uniquely visceral thanks, in part, to director Danny Boyle's inspired use of a digital video camera. And there was a gut-wrenching sense of hopelessness baked into writer Alex Garland's script that made 28 Days Later feel far more grounded than most of the zombie films that inspired it. Boyle and Garland stepped back from the franchise as it continued with a graphic novel and director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's 28 Weeks Later in 2007, but they are back together again for 28 Years Later. Though it's set in the same world and calls back to the original, the new film hits very differently because of how much more overrun pop culture is with zombie-themed horror. You can feel Boyle and Garland trying not to echo other big pieces of zombie IP as they weave a new tale about how the world has changed almost three decades after the outbreak of a deadly virus. And in a couple of the movie's pivotal moments, the filmmakers manage to avoid being too derivative. Many of this story's smaller beats feel overly familiar, though — so much so that it almost seems intentional. That wouldn't be a huge knock against 28 Years Later if it could conjure the same kind of pulse-quickening scares that made the first film such an instant classic. But the most terrifying thing about the franchise's latest chapter is how oddly conservative and, at times, nationalistic its story winds up becoming. Though 28 Years Later opens with an arresting reminder of how people had no idea how to defend themselves against those infected with the rage virus in the outbreak's early days, it revolves around a community that has learned what it takes to survive. Like everyone else holed up on a tiny island in northern England, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) knows how dangerous the infected are and how easily their virus is spread. He also understands that, were it not for the island's unique geography — it connects to the mainland with a causeway that vanishes with the tides — his life of relative comfort wouldn't be possible. Jamie and his sickly wife Isla (Jodie Comer) work hard to impress upon their son Spike (Alfie Williams) how important it is to adhere to their community's rules. People can leave the island to collect wood or hunt for whatever food they can find. But they do so knowing that no one will come to save them if they can't make it back to the island on their own. Everyone also knows that, while Great Britain is still quarantined, the rage virus has been all but eradicated everywhere else in the world. And because other countries have essentially left the British to fend for themselves, there's a current of resentment (particularly toward the French) coursing through Jamie's community. One of the first things that jumps out about 28 Years Later is its overwhelmingly white cast. Some of that can be attributed to the idea that these are all people who just happened to already live on the island when the virus first got out. But Boyle also makes a point of emphasizing how capital B British all of the film's characters are, with closeups of photos of Queen Elizabeth II and moments where people remind each other that it's time for tea. The film frequently cuts to archival black-and-white footage of British soldiers marching during World War I and scenes from Laurence Olivier's Henry V in a way that makes British identity feel like it's meant to be understood as a crucial part of the story. This is also true of the way 28 Years Later prominently features a recording of 'Boots,' Rudyard Kipling's famous poem about a British soldier's participation in the Second Boer War. But all of that imagery becomes charged with a very pointed, Brexit-y energy when 28 Years Later juxtaposes it with shots of the writhing, naked infected who have become the mainland's dominant population. The racial homogeneity of Jamie's community is that last thing on anyone's mind as he prepares Spike to go on his first trip to the mainland — an experience that's supposed to help them bond and show the boy what it's like to kill an infected. Isla's terrified at the idea of her son leaving, but it excites Jamie, who almost seems to enjoy his forays into danger. Spike, too, is thrilled to finally get a chance to see parts of the world that he's never had access to. But it's not long before they encounter the infected and are forced to spend the night hiding rather than returning home. Especially once Jamie and Spike have ventured out, 28 Days Later starts to feel a lot like The Last of Us in the sense that its story is — at least initially — about a man working through his feelings about fatherhood in a world plagued by flesh-eating monsters. And the film's focus on manhood (as well as its parallels to other, more recent zombie fiction) becomes that much more pronounced when Jamie and Spike first encounter an alpha, one of the new types of infected. The way 28 Years Later evolves its monsters is one of the more interesting aspects of the film. There are still jerky, sprinting infected who present the most immediate risk, but after decades of mutation, the virus has also given rise to corpulent 'slow-lows' who crawl on the ground, and infected who seem able to form social connections. Boyle showcases the film's new types of monsters brilliantly in a number of action sequences that make heavy use of a unique iPhone camera array that creates shots that pivot around scenes in a very Matrix -y, bullet time fashion. Those shots — of arrows being shot into infecteds' necks and groins — are exhilarating and impactful, but deployed so frequently that it quickly grows tiresome. What's even more exhausting is how, despite the fact that we're told how these survivors have adapted to life with the infected, the film's characters repeatedly make decisions that feel wholly unmoored from reason. This becomes very apparent in the movie's second half as Comer — who delivers a tremendous, if restrained performance — takes on a much more prominent role. Columbia Pictures That said, 28 Years Later is absolutely gorgeous more often than not. Boyle's shots of the English countryside are majestic, but they become alarming as the infected shamble into view. There's one chase scene on the causeway that stands out for having some of the most beautiful visuals ever featured in a zombie film. But the story's rote-ness keeps 28 Years Later from feeling like the product of Boyle and Garland working at the height of their powers. As questionable as some of its messaging is, 28 Years Later is just the first installment of a new trilogy. It's possible that its off-putting qualities are being propped up for the subsequent two films to knock down -- which means that, like the infected, the series will have to evolve.

Elle

32 minutes ago

• Elle

‘28 Years Later' Is the Zombie Sequel You Didn't Know You Needed—Here's How to Watch

Every item on this page was chosen by an ELLE editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. Over two decades after 28 Days Later redefined zombie horror, director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland return to their virus-ravaged world with 28 Years Later—the first in a newly planned trilogy. The $60 million sequel sees the Rage Virus still festering on British soil, while the rest of the world has moved on. Opening in theaters today, the film explores not just the ongoing fight for survival, but also the evolution of both the virus and humanity. Set on the remote Holy Island off England's northeast coast, 28 Years Later centers on 12-year-old Spike (Alfie Williams). who has never known a world beyond the fortified pathway linking his small community to the quarantined mainland. On his birthday, his father Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) takes him across the water for a harrowing rite of passage—only to find that the infected have evolved. Some crawl; others, now dubbed Alphas, lead organized hunting packs. The film also stars Jodie Comer as Isla, a housebound mother. 'There are moments that feel incredibly heightened—you're out of breath, facing elements of hysteria—but it's brilliant,' Comer told the BBC, describing the intensity of filming without CGI. While 28 Years Later doesn't revisit the immunity storyline from 28 Weeks Later, it does mark the beginning of a new arc that will stretch across two more films. Garland has already penned the second installment, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, which is directed by Nia DaCosta (Candyman) and due next year. Boyle, who hopes to return for the trilogy's conclusion, confirmed to Collider that Cillian Murphy's Jim—last seen alive in 28 Days Later—will appear in the second and play a major role in the third. Not yet. The film is currently playing in theaters, with a streaming release date to be announced. Given Sony's distribution history, the title is likely to become available via digital purchase first, followed by streaming on one of its affiliated platforms—though no official plan has been confirmed. In the meantime, you can revisit the earlier films in the franchise: 28 Days Later is now available to stream on Pluto TV, and 28 Weeks Later is on Hulu and Tubi. Get Tickets

Yahoo

32 minutes ago

• Yahoo

Danny Boyle: Slumdog Millionaire was cultural appropriation

Danny Boyle has said his hit film Slumdog Millionaire was cultural appropriation. The British director, who also made the films Trainspotting and 127 Hours, said that he was proud of Slumdog Millionaire, but that 'you wouldn't even contemplate doing something like that today'. The 2008 Oscar-winning movie, which Boyle directed, follows the story of a boy from the slums of Mumbai who is one question away from winning the Hindi version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, before being arrested on suspicion of cheating. It was shot in Mumbai, partly in Hindi, and used a local crew, but the award-winning director said he couldn't make it today. He would instead be 'looking for a young Indian filmmaker' to direct the picture, because his directing of the film was 'cultural appropriation'. He told The Guardian on his press tour for the horror film 28 Years Later: 'That kind of cultural appropriation might be sanctioned at certain times, but at other times it cannot be. It wouldn't even get financed. 'We wouldn't be able to make that now. And that's how it should be. It's time to reflect on all that. We have to look at the cultural baggage we carry and the mark that we've left on the world.' He said it was a 'flawed method' because it was filmed by 'outsiders'. 'At the time it felt radical. We made the decision that only a handful of us would go to Mumbai. 'We'd work with a big Indian crew and try to make a film within the culture. But you're still an outsider. It's still a flawed method. Even if I was involved, I'd be looking for a young Indian filmmaker to shoot it.' The film premiered at the 2008 Telluride Film Festival and won eight Oscars at the 2009 Academy Awards, including those for best picture and best director, as well as several BAFTA awards and Golden Globes. It was also a box office hit, making $378 million worldwide on a reported $15 million budget. Speaking about his directorial choices in the interview, Boyle explained: 'I value the popular audience. I believe in popular entertainment. 'I want to push the boat out, but take the popular audience with me.' Elsewhere, he discussed his direction of Isles of Wonder, the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics that featured Daniel Craig as James Bond and the late Queen Elizabeth II. The film, which was a celebration of British culture, also featured the National Health Service, Shakespeare, the Sex Pistols and Windrush migrants. However, Boyle said his 'biggest regret' was not featuring the BBC in it more, saying if he were to do it again he would 'big up' the 'precious' national broadcaster. He said: 'My biggest regret was that we didn't feature the BBC more. I was stopped from doing it because it was the host broadcaster. 'Every other objection, I told them to go f--- themselves. But that one I accepted and I regret that now, especially given the way that technology is moving. 'The idea that we have a broadcaster that is part of our national identity, but is also trusted around the world and that can't be bought, can't be subsumed into Meta or whatever, feels really precious. 'So yeah, if I was doing it again I'd big up the BBC big time. Everything else I'd do exactly the same.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.