When 28 Days Later was released in 2002 it’s fair to say that I wasn’t blown away by it, even though the general consensus was that it was a masterpiece of horror. You see, I was a Romero traditionist and held no truck with this fast moving zombies nonsense, not to mention the fact that there was fierce debate about whether or not they were in fact zombies, a debate that will still get people heated to this day.
It wasn’t until the second or third viewing that I got over my early prejudices and really started to appreciate how good it was. The performances are great, especially from some actors that are now regulars on our screens, Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson, Christopher Eccleston and Naomie Harris. And being shot low budget on early iPhone gives it a grainy, some would say too grainy, quality that adds to the dark and apocalyptic tone.
By the time we get to 28 Weeks Later in 2007 the grimy low budget look has gone, and it is very much a Hollywood affair. And although it had some fine moments, the helicopter scene in Regents park and the napalming of London standing out, it didn’t quite earn it’s place as a classic like that of it’s predecessor.
WARNING: Mild spoilers ahead.
We start the latest in the franchise with a bunch of kids watching the Teletubbies as the initial rage virus outbreak begins. A young boy named Jimmy runs to the church where his Father is the Priest. Dad has lost the plot a little and is decrying that Judgment day is here. He gives Jimmy his crucifix and Jimmy runs as his Father meets his maker.
And so 28 Years Later picks up, as you might expect, 28 years after the original outbreak of the rage virus. The rest of the world has managed to stave off the virus, preventing it from spreading further and containing it to the British Isles, which is now quarantined, with UN ships patrolling the waters to make sure it stays that way, offering no help, and leaving whatever survivors there are to fend for themselves.
One such group is situated on Holy Island, just off the coast of Northumberland, and it is here that we meet Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), his son Spike (Alfie Williams) and Isla (Jodie Comer) their wife and mother respectively. Isla is bedridden, suffering from an unknown illness that has her confused, with moments of lucidity.
It’s during one of these lucid moments that Isla discovers that Jamie is taking Spike on his first visit to the mainland, causing an aggressive verbal outburst towards Jamie and the dropping of a slew of C bombs.
Jamie and Spike head out, and as they make their way through the village Spike is met with encouragement and good wishes. This is a right of passage for young men on the island, a trip to the mainland to get their first kill of an infected.
To get to the mainland they must cross the causeway, only accessible during low tide, a plot device that adds to the feeling of isolation that the community experiences. After a pep talk from the community leaders Jamie and Spike make their way across the causeway armed with bows and arrows and head inland.
Pretty soon we get what we’ve all been waiting for, as the pair encounter a couple of slow moving, obese infected living off of earthworms, and although nervous, Spike gets his first kill and dad is proud. But the good times don’t last, as they come across an old farmhouse with an infected hanging upside down with a bag over it’s head and the name Jimmy carved into it. This time Spike can’t make the kill and the usual fast moving infected are attracted to the chaos, led by the all new Alpha, bigger, smarter and stronger than the usual infected, with a penchant for ripping peoples spines out and sporting a certain body part that you really can’t help but be drawn to.
After hiding out for the night, and spotting a fire burning in the distance, which Jamie is reluctant to discuss, Father and Son head back to the island barely making it across the causeway as the tide isn’t quite at it’s lowest, and some infected are on their heels.
It is once that we’re back in the village that the story takes a turn. Jamie embellishes his sons accomplishments on the mainland and hooks up with one of the local women, witnessed by Spike, who starts to see his Father in a different light. And after having a conversation with older resident Sam, he learns that the fire he saw on the mainland might belong to a Dr Kelson, who was a GP in the good old days.
And so, Spike hatches a plan. Distracting the locals with a fire, he leads his Mother out of the gates and across the causeway to the mainland, his aim, to find Dr Kelson and get help for his Mother’s unknown illness. And so the movie goes from being a Father and Son story to a Mother and Son story.
Obviously things don’t go smoothly as there are encounters with the infected, and a meeting with Erik, a Swedish soldier, the one remaining member of a team that found themselves marooned here after a their boat sank.
And here it gets weird!
Isla encounters a heavily pregnant infected woman and helps her give birth to a seemingly normal baby because apparently, the placenta is a wonderful thing, and Erik is dispatched as quick as he arrived. And just as the Alpha is about to strike we meet the afore mentioned Dr Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), who incapacitates the Alpha with a tranquilliser dart, but doesn’t kill him.
Isla, Spike and their new baby companion go back to Dr Kelson’s camp, where he burns the bodies of the dead, infected and uninfected, and turns their bones in to shrines. Dr Kelson is very possibly insane! But despite this, Isla allows him to examine her, and the news is not good.
Here I’m going to spare the details, but I will say that the outcome of Isla’s story is moving, sudden and a little unhinged, but made bearable by excellent performances from Jodie Comer and young Alfie Williams.
Spike takes the baby back to the island, leaving it by the front gate, and returns to the mainland to survive on his own. Here he meets a new set of survivors clad in colourful track suits and adorned with gold chains and rings, and in their leaders case, a familiar looking crucifix. Howza bout that then? I’m sure they can fix it for Spike. Look, if you know what I’m getting at you know, if you don’t I’m not sure what to tell you. It’s one of the weirdest unhinged endings I’ve seen in a movie in a long time.
All in all 28 Years Later is an enjoyable trip through the “Zombie” apocalypse, but it’s not all plain sailing. We are expected to ignore certain plot holes and except various contrivances in order to keep things moving.
Why, when the Alpha is tranquillised, does no one think to take the opportunity to lop his head off, instead he is just left to come back and cause more problems later. Despite someone always being on look out at the entrance to to island, Spike manages to walk across the causeway with a new born baby, leave it on the doorstep, and walk back across the causeway to the mainland without anybody noticing.
The arrival of Erik the soldier played by Edvin Ryding, is not entirely needed, and although his appearance offers some much needed comic relief, I would have happily sacrificed it for some scenes back on the island. It would have been nice to see Jamie desperate to get to his wife and child, but being prevented from leaving by the village leaders. As it is, he just disappears for half of the movie only to reappear again at the very end.
Danny Boyle’s direction is great as always, and as with the original, iPhones are used to shoot much of the movie, offering interesting camera angles such as on the back of an infected or swinging from the ceiling. Alex Garland’s screenplay, like much of his work, favours theme over plot causing it to be a little uneven, but the relationship between Isla and Spike kept me interested enough to go on the journey with them.
The soundtrack, composed by Young Fathers, is wonderful, with exceptional use of the poem “Boots” by Rudyard Kipling and read by American actor Taylor Holmes in a recording from 1915. This was made brilliant use of in the films first trailer, and I decided I was going to see the movie on the strength of it alone, I needed no more, even though it turned out to be something different than this trailer suggested.
According to Danny Boyle some outstanding questions will be answered in the next in the series, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, due for release in 2026. Including more of our track suit clad weirdos. There is also the promise of a fourth kind of infected, and the return of Jim from the original movie, once again being played by Cillian Murphy who also acts as an executive producer on the movies.
Despite it’s plot issues, and it being two separate movies in one, 28 Years Later delivers a visceral horror experience, although I can’t say I was ever really scared. If you like horror, “zombies”, weird family dynamics or just crazy unhinged shit, give it a watch.
