The not-zombie zombie franchise returns
Directed by: Danny Boyle
Written by: Alex Garland
Starring: Alfie Williams, Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Rated R for strong bloody violence, grisly images, graphic nudity, language, and brief sexuality
Release Date: June 20, 2025
Runtime: 1:55
This review may contain spoilers
28 Years Ago
Back in 2002, director Danny Boyle released 28 Days Later, a zombie film that didn’t have actual zombies but followed the same movie rules. They bite you, you become them. Infection spreads, leaving survivors to fend for themselves. They’re just not rotting corpses limping around.
Now, (nearly) 28 years later, Boyle is bringing us back to the world of blood-vomiting rage monsters.
Days turned to Weeks, turned to Years
Nearly three decades after the United Kingdom was plagued by the Rage Virus (an aggressively infectious virus that takes you over in seconds), a village on a strategically safe island has survived despite the entire country being quarantined from the world.
Spike, a twelve-year-old villager (played by first-timer Alfie Williams), braves the infested-filled mainland to find the hermit doctor (Ralph Fiennes, Harry Potter franchise) to help his diseased mother (Jodie Comer, AMC’s Killing Eve). The young adventurer will discover harsh truths of the chaotic world beyond his village as he dodges fast runners and slower bloaters, as well as more intelligent, mutated giants.
Giants hang dong
Speaking of giants, if you’re not a fan of swinging genitals, you’re not gonna like the new versions of the infected. Throughout the years, some infected that haven’t died out have mutated to smarter, larger creatures with a preference for public nudity. And Boyle isn’t afraid of showing off the giants’ man-meat just floppin’ in front of the damn camera.
I mean, they couldn’t just have a loincloth or tattered clothes or something?
Zombie Craze
Before 28 Days Later, zombie movie culture wasn’t as blown up as it is now. Most zombie stuff was reserved for B-movies and video games. While not technically a zombie film, 28 Days Later started the path for mainstream zombie media. Now, zombies are everywhere – Dawn of the Dead remake, AMC’s The Walking Dead, World War Z, Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland, Train to Busan, Warm Bodies, and Fido.
No, really, I could go on. Army of the Dead, Planet Terror, Maggie, Dead Snow, Zombie Strippers, Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, CW’s iZombie, SyFy’s Z Nation, and Netflix’s Black Summer and Santa Clarita Diet.
I stand with 28 Days Later (a movie not about zombies) that started the zombie craze. It must have been the early 2000s when zombie movies surged, and both 28 Days Later and Resident Evil came out in 2002. Yeeeah, my money’s on 28 Days.
What’s next? 28 Decades Later?
The movie ends on a wild cliffhanger (something about color-themed parkour killers inspired by old Teletubbies reruns; yeah, it’s weird), opening the door for more sequels. Already, a follow-up is set to release next January – 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.
A fourth film in development has now been announced.
28 Weird-As-Hell Years Later
28 Years Later isn’t as good as the first one, but it explores the progress of the Rage virus and the evolution of the infected.
It’s also weirder than the first two movies. The story is already bizarre with Spike leading his delirious mother through the wasteland. Her condition makes her confuse her own son with her deceased father. Not to mention, the good Doctor Kelson is living his apocalyptic life, building up massive effigies everywhere. Everyone is out there just trying to survive, and Kelson is building Gilligan Island contraptions to clean skulls and stack them 30 feet high.
Oh, sorry, this is the UK. So he’s stacking them over nine meters high.
I was hoping to see characters from the first movie return (or even ones from the second movie). Something to see what became of them and how those movies connect to this one. I mean, the second film has a kid who was immune to the virus, for cryin’ out loud!
28 Years Later is currently playing in theaters.
