The 28 Days Later franchise has come a long way.
With a scrappy filming process and future Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy leading, 28 Days Later quickly became a horror hit, making nearly $83 million at the box office off of a measly $8 million dollar budget. Slightly less successful at the box office, 28 Weeks Later came 5 years later. With Alex Garland and Danny Boyle, the original writer and director, not having returned and Cillian Murphy also not returning, the zombie movie fans loved took a different turn. After the sequel, the franchise entered development hell with differences involving the film rights despite both Danny Boyle and Alex Garland expressing interest in returning for a third film. For over a decade, it felt like the next franchise project would never happen. Until 2024, when 28 Years Later was announced along with two additional sequels. The excitement buzzed across the internet, only heightening with the release of the trailer which harnessed an eerie reading of the poem “Boots” by Rudyard Kipling.
Box Office
Upon release, 28 Years Later was deemed a success making over $150 million at the box office, gaining critical acclaim and generally good favor amongst fans of the franchise. With time passing, fresh new characters and an enthusiastic audience, there could not have been a better setup for 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. And the film did not disappoint. The movie follows Spike (Alfie Williams) and his adventure with the Jimmys, a killer (and not just for zombies) cult led by Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell), a Jimmy Savile inspired character introduced at the end of 28 Years Later. In addition to Spike’s story, the audience also follows a lone Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) who is trying to better understand the virus via observations of Samson, (Chi Lewis-Perry) an Alpha zombie, known for being much bigger, faster and stronger than the others.
The two stories are beautifully intertwined and create a great contrast to one another. Spike and the Jimmys have some of the goriest scenes seen in a mainstream horror film franchise which was shocking to myself and others in the audience. The level of violence was unsettling and created a lot of empathy for Spike’s situation with the Jimmys. It contrasted not only Kelson’s experience with Samson but also Spike’s loving relationship with his family in the previous film. Kelson’s experiences with Samson are much slower-paced, thoughtful and methodical. It was surprising that the film focused on Spike and Kelson when Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) was a prominent part of 28 Years Later and will certainly make a return in the last film of the trilogy. This choice worked well though and moving away from the island to the mainland allowed for an exploration of the world and the virus the audience wouldn’t have gotten had it followed an island character.
World-Building
The world-building in this sequel is incredible because it deviates a bit from characters we’ve met and dives into existing characters more deeply. Following Kelson and Samson was an absolute treat and watching the Jimmys do their damage exposed the underbelly of humanity that creeps out in times of chaos and disorganization. The audience also learns the most about the virus compared to any of the previous films. Although the virus is explored a bit in 28 Years Later, the exploration of the effects and functioning of the virus are a prominent part of this entry in the franchise. The film feels very functionally similar to the previous film in that new characters are introduced and explored in a slow, controlled way, ensuring further world building and well-rounded, realistic characters.
A great and focused continuation of the previous entry, The Bone Temple slowly walks us to what will surely be an incredible finale to the trilogy. Although it was clear that this was the second film in a trilogy opting to focus on world-building and character development, it didn’t hinder the story in any way and created more excitement in how the series concludes. By the end credits, I was sitting on the edge of my seat, ready to devour the finale. I am curious to see where Alex Garland and Danny Boyle take us in the next one and can confidently say the 28 Days Later franchise has made its mark as some of the best zombie movies ever made.
