Scary Movies: 28 Years Later

This latest sequel in the 28 … Later zombie franchise reminds me of 2024’s A Quiet Place: Day One in that it starts off as a regular horror movie, but ends up as something else entirely, and it’s a little hard to describe what, but maybe it could be described as a dark fantasy with a philosophical bent. I think the reason it’s able to make this pivot is because in this post-apocalyptic world where zombies–or as they’re termed in this movie, the Infected–have taken over and begun to form their own societies is so foreign that any exploration of it almost necessarily turns into a fantasy adventure. Also, this is only the first half of the story: as is the wont of films these days, a second part is coming out in 2026 that will complete the story. So maybe I’ll have an entirely different view of things once I’ve seen that second part. In any case, let’s move on to the movie itself.

In a brief opening scene set in the time of the original 28 Days Later film, we see a child escape his house and small village in England as it’s overrun by zombies. Err, not actually zombies, as in this franchise, the mindless hungry monsters are actually people infected by the Rage virus, which eats away their brains and makes them desire human flesh to eat… so yeah, basically zombies. Anyway, the child flees to a church where a priest willingly sacrifices himself to a horde of the Infected as he believes it is the dawn of the end times.

Flash forward to twenty-eight years later, where that young child has grown into Jamie, a father with a very sick wife named Isla and a twelve-year old son, Spike. Jamie and his family live on an island off the coast of England connected to the mainland by a natural stone causeway that is covered during high tide and revealed when the tide is at its lowest ebb. As the Infected get swept out to sea if they try to cross most of the time, the islanders only have to guard the causeway for a short time every day. This is how the village protects itself from marauding bands of the Infected.

Now that he’s twelve, Spike is old enough to go on his first trip to the mainland with his dad, a coming-of-age ritual. His mother’s against it, but is too sick to get out of bed, and Spike is eager to go so the other village boys don’t think less of him. Off Jamie and Spike go, armed with bows and arrows. Jamie shows Spike how to move quietly and where to aim to kill the occasional Infected they find wandering. But unfortunately, they run into a whole pack of Infected and have to spend the night in the loft of a collapsing old barn. From the loft, they can see a fire in the distance–a sign that a human is living among the Infected.

They make it back to their island the next day, and the villagers throw a party to celebrate Spike’s first trip to the mainland and his first kills of the Infected, the tale of which his father greatly embellishes. Later in the evening, Spike see his father sneak off with a woman and realizes he’s having an affair. He confides the next day to a family friend about his father’s affair, and also mentions the fire they saw burning when they were on the mainland. The family friend suggests the fire was lit by Dr. Ian Kelson, a medical doctor who is known to still live among the Infected. Spike wonders if the doctor can help his mother.

The next day, Spike confronts his father with his knowledge about both the affair and Dr. Kelson. Jamie says that Dr. Kelson is too crazy to help Isla, but after dark, Spike takes his sick mother and helps her to walk, escaping the island with her and headed toward where he’d seen the fire burning. It’s not long until they’re attacked by the same horde as before, but are unexpectedly rescued by a Swedish soldier, Erik, who’s the only surviving member of his military strike team. (Did I mention that, as we learned in the second movie, the rest of the world still operates normally, but have totally quarantined Britain to prevent the Rage infection from spreading?)

Spike, Isla, and Erik find an abandoned train to hide from the Infected, but there is a pregnant Infected woman on the train who’s in labor. She gives birth and the baby appears to be normal–i.e., not infected with the Rage virus. Erik kills the woman and threatens to kill the baby, who he thinks may still harbor the virus, but he is killed in turn by a giant Infected, apparently the baby’s father.

Before the Infected father can attack Spike and Isla, he is felled by a dart from a blowgun. Out of the shadows steps Dr. Kelson (played by Ralph Fiennes), who explains that he calls the giant Samson. Dr. Kelson escorts Spike and Isla to his home, a sanctuary that includes a sort of memorial made of human bones and skulls. Dr. Kelson examines Isla and finds she is suffering from late-stage terminal cancer, and does not have long to live. She asks Dr. Kelson to euthanize her.

Samson invades the bone temple and Spike fights him off. He takes the baby and returns it to the village gate, leaving a note for his father, but he himself returns to the mainland. He wanders for twenty-eight days when he’s attacked by a horde of Infected, only to be rescued by a band of humans. The leader of the band, who wears an upside-down cross, introduces himself as Jimmy Crystal, and the movie ends.

28 Years Later (2025)
Story/Plot/Characters— Well acted, good dialogue, and the story and characters are well-rounded and interesting. Some of the backstory is unfortunately a little half-baked or at least under-explained–why exactly does Spike go out on this coming-of-age ritual with his dad, but there’s no ceremony or ritual? They just leave and nobody else knows? Why was the Swedish soldier’s team on the mainland? A few lingering questions but overall an intelligent, entertaining movie. (3 points)
Special Effects— Great bloody, gory, disgusting effects. (2 points)
Scariness— The fight scenes are intense and fast, almost too much so as to actually be frightening. And by the second half of the movie, scares aren’t even the point. (1.5 points)
Atmosphere/Freakiness— So freaky and disgusting. There are two kinds of Infected–the marauding almost cave-man type of rage- and hunger-filled ones who live in tribal bands, and a second kind of vile, grossly obese Infected who crawl on the ground stuffing their mouths with worms and grubs as they cross the landscape. Both are covered with infection and parasites, as they have been infected for 28 years yet still live, slowly rotting but never dying. But a lot of atmosphere as well in the almost medieval island village and the deep forest no longer inhabited by humans. (2 points)
Total=8.5 points (Best Horror Movies Ever)

A well-made, thought-provoking movie that starts off as standard horror but has an unexpected destination.