“28 Years Later” weaves a gripping tale, celebrating the haunting beauty of an apocalyptic world.
In 28 Years Later, Taylor Holmes’s 1915 rendition of Rudyard Kipling’s 1903 poem ‘Boots’—its relentless repetition evoking a soldier’s psyche—sets a haunting tone for this post-apocalyptic horror. Penned by Alex Garland and directed by Danny Boyle, this third installment, following 28 Days Later (2002) and 28 Weeks Later (2007), launches a new trilogy. The story opens with young Jimmy fleeing as his father, praying in a church, embraces the rage-virus-infected hordes as divine rapture. Twenty-eight years later, the UK remains quarantined while the world moves on. On Lindisfarne, a survivor enclave connected by a guarded causeway, 12-year-old Spike (Alfie Williams) lives with his parents, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Isla (Jodie Comer), who battles crippling headaches and memory loss. Jamie insists Spike undertake his first mainland kill—a rite of passage—where he encounters diverse infected, from worm-eating crawlers to cunning Alphas like Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry), who savagely decapitate victims.
Returning a hero yet disillusioned, Spike learns of a mysterious mainland doctor (Ralph Fiennes) and ventures with Isla to find a cure. Boyle, credited with reviving the zombie genre, infuses brutal, bloody action with stunning visuals: the ruined UK countryside dazzles, a “bejewelled isle” from bird’s-eye views. Fiennes’s Doctor Kelson, part Colonel Kurtz, presides over a ritualistic bone citadel, blending insanity and cold reason, musing “Alas, poor Erik” over a skull. Williams captures youthful grit and fragility, while Edvin Ryding’s hapless NATO soldier Erik adds unintentional humor. With Jack O’Connell’s cult leader Jimmy and Cillian Murphy’s return looming in a sequel, Boyle and Garland craft a psychedelic nightmare of beauty and horror, echoing Kipling’s timeless march through a ravaged world.