’28 Years Later’ Review #2
Stars: Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Alfie Williams, Jack O’Connell, Ralph Fiennes | Written by Alex Garland | Directed by Danny Boyle
23 years after the release of 28 Days Later, we finally have the long-awaited 28 Years Later. The third film sees 28 Days writer Alex Garland teaming up with the film’s director Danny Boyle. The two have had a great creative relationship over the years, with Boyle directing three of Garland’s first four screenplays. However, it’s been 18 years since the two last worked together on 2007’s Sunshine. Now they’re back together to return to the world of the rage virus, a virus that has only affected the UK, and as a result, the entire island has been quarantined, abandoned, and isolated. Over time, it has caused the island to fester, grow, and mutate, just like the zombie craze Boyle and Garland reignited 23 years ago.
The zombie movie has been at the heart of horror cinema for over half a century. It can be traced back to the silver screen in 1932’s White Zombie, but the genre really broke free from the grave in 1968 with George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. Since then, the genre has bitten, clawed, and run through our screens. The real game-changer came with 28 Days Later. Although zombies had moved fast before (The Return of the Living Dead featured faster-moving zombies than earlier films), zombies had never had the same ferocity or violence. The film shook the genre and influenced nearly every piece of zombie media since. Even when the zombies remained slow, like in The Walking Dead, the lead character still found himself waking up from a coma. Since then, the genre has followed much the same format. Over the last few years, we’ve gotten used to stories of tough men in tough worlds; of older men and women watching over younger generations and helping them survive the new world. Stories like The Last of Us, Train to Busan, and even The Walking Dead video game.
28 Years Later starts out following those same tropes and themes we’ve seen everywhere in recent years. The film opens with a group of survivors who have managed to stay alive on the island of Lindisfarne. The island is only connected to the mainland via a gated tidal causeway. When the tide is low, it allows a path for a couple of island residents to head onto the mainland in search of supplies. The first act of the film follows Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his son Spike (Alfie Williams), as Spike takes his first trip to the mainland. This section is full of what we’ve come to expect from a zombie movie — scary, tense moments built into some great world-building and heart-racing sequences. Jamie is set on showing his son Spike the violence and dangers of the world, and how to act when faced with them. With some great imagery and camerawork, along with top-drawer performances, the first act makes for a good time, but a somewhat by-the-books approach. I was sitting back in my seat thinking I knew where the rest of the story would go, but how wrong I was.
In a surprising turn of events, the rest of the film takes a turn and becomes more than a typical zombie flick. It looks like Boyle and Garland once again want to redefine the genre and show the world to be more than violence and chaos. With the introduction of a character played by the always magnificent Ralph Fiennes, the story takes a much more human approach and reveals the film to be something more. In one of the scenes of the year, Fiennes’s character emphasises a Latin phrase that turns into something deeply relevant to our world today, not just the zombie apocalypse. The film turns out to be an emotional powerhouse and packs a heavy punch. The true strength of this lies in the relationship between Spike and his mother, Isla (Jodie Comer). Comer once again gives a fantastic performance and steals almost every scene she’s in.
The film doesn’t exactly have a twist, but the direction the narrative takes is one of the best story choices I’ve seen in a long time. The characters feel real and more human than most. With key themes of family, death, and acceptance strung throughout, it creates a story that stays with you, one that’s so much more than zombie headshots. The story asks you to reflect on where the current mould of zombie movies has gone and reminds us that all that death and masculinity, in the end, means absolutely nothing.
The UK can look forward to seeing the sequel in around 28 weeks, and those weeks can’t come fast enough.
***** 5/5
28 Years Later is in cinemas now.
