28 Years Later, directed by Danny Boyle, is in cinemas now.
You’d think we’d be a bit over zombies by now, with the proliferation of movies and TV series like The Walking Dead, The Last of Us, and the unkillable Living Dead film franchise. Even Minecraft had ’em.
But those who remember the thrill of watching Cillian Murphy’s dazed survivor wander along a deserted London in 2002’s groundbreaking 28 Days Later will be excited that director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland have returned to helm a brilliant, blistering follow-up. (The non-Boyle 28 Weeks Later from 2007 is largely ignored by aficionados.) It’s the beginning of a planned trilogy, with part two having been shot back to back with this first one, a film that could be read as a Brexit kind of post-apocalypse.
In the three decades since humans were infected by the “Rage” virus, Europe has regained control and is carrying on as normal. But Britain is still quarantined, its population eviscerated by the scourge of undead who roam the countryside naked and screeching.
A small community of survivors live on the island of Lindisfarne, off the north-east coast, where they have adopted a medieval lifestyle of living off the land, drinking homebrew and taking archery lessons.
A plaque in the dining hall pronounces: “Fail we may but go we must.” So, on his 12th birthday, Spike (impressive newcomer Alfie Williams) heads with father Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) on a coming-of-age quest to get his “first kills” on the mainland. But the excursion eventually leads Spike into dangerous territory to save the life of his sick mother (Jodie Comer).
28 Years Later is masterful film-making from an industry veteran. Boyle pushes the technological envelope by shooting the movie using a raft of iPhones attached to a rig and through the ingenuity of his regular cinematographer, Anthony Dod Mantle. The entire cast is superb, with an extraordinary performance from the tirelessly versatile Ralph Fiennes as a doctor who has survived on the mainland.
The result is sensational: a hectic but controlled mélange of tones, styles and camera shots which create tension, emotion and thrill, underscored with a soundtrack that combines 90s-sounding drum ’n’ bass as well as a terrifying reading of Rudyard Kipling’s anti-war poem Boots.
The film’s extraordinary final moments are simultaneously revelatory, distasteful and intriguing. Thank goodness we don’t have to wait another 23 years to resolve the cliffhanger: part two of the 28 Years trilogy, The Bone Temple, comes out in January.
Rating out of five: ★★★★★
