28 YEARS LATER

****

Directed by Danny Boyle.

Starring Alfie Williams, Aaron-Taylor Johnson, Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes.

Horror, UK, 115 minutes, Certificate 15.

Released in cinemas in the UK on June 19th by Sony Pictures Releasing.

Did Danny Boyle and Alex Garland realise just what they were unleashing on the world with 28 DAYS LATER? Their modestly budgeted film shot on digital video is unarguably responsible for the slew of zombie/infected movies, television shows, comic books, novels and video games that flood the media landscape to this very day. Inspired by the likes of DAWN OF THE DEAD, Richard Matheson’s I AM LEGEND and John Wyndham’s DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS, Boyle and Garland managed to reboot what was pretty much a niche genre until then and mutated it into something else that seemed to infect the minds of storytellers and audiences worldwide. Now, twenty-three years later, they return with a sequel that has enough of its own idiosyncrasies and twists that it may be the revitalising shock to the system the overexposed genre needs in a post-COVID world that seems to be on the brink in its own way.

Largely ignoring the coda of 28 WEEKS LATER, we return to a quarantined United Kingdom where an older way of life seems to be returning for the few survivors left. Residing on a self-proclaimed “Holy Isle” off the coast of Northern England, we meet twelve year old Spike, a boy who has never known a life without “the infected.” Taken onto the mainland, only accessible by a causeway during low tide, by his father a swaggering, macho Aaron Taylor-Jones, Spike is treated to a dangerous rite of passage that brings him face to face with the rage virus and its own unsettling mutations, resulting in such unnerving variations from the slug-like “Fatties” to the hulking, near unstoppable “Alphas.” While there is a sense of community on the island, Spike is troubled by the maladies that have stricken his mother Isla, Jodie Comer, adding another impressive performance to her resume. Spike soon realises the harsh uncomfortable truths behind his strained life and undertakes dangerous measures to help his mother, leading him into a strange, new dangerous world.

Unlike other recent legacy sequels, Boyle and Garland inject a number of new wrinkles that give this world a number of exciting new directions to explore. At the same time the familiar elements of an abandoned country and the ever-present threats it holds is present, reminding us of how thrilling and scary this world, and genre, once was. Returning to this world also seems to have provided Boyle with a much needed shot in the arm that has been missing from his work for quite some time, including the slight misfire of his last sequel TRAINSPOTTING 2.0. Working with regular cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, mainly filming on the iPhone 15 Pro, it recalls the look of the first film but Boyle supplies a variety of stunning images delivered through inventive shooting. In the early stages Boyle comes across not so much as a director but the cinematic equivalent of a DJ, sampling and mixing in footage from other films, most notably Laurence Olivier’s HENRY V, alongside the scratchy, unnerving audio of Rudyard Kipling’s poem Boots, reminding us of what a galvanising director Boyle can be.

As well as being aided by Garland’s propulsive storytelling and excellent soundtrack from Young Fathers, the top form cast flesh out their characters to excellent effect, particularly Alfie Williams as Spike. Never coming across as precocious or annoying, like so many other child performances, his portrayal of Spike helps cement him as an intriguing and sympathetic hero to follow through this new trilogy. 

Narratively compelling in a way where the previous films faltered, this is compelling and exciting stuff in a way that has you mostly excited to see where we go from here. I use that reservation as the film closes on a note that causes near whiplash with its sudden change into a near gonzo style that takes a turn for the daft that has you wondering how Nia DaCosta will handle the second installment. Enough narrative threads are laid out here however that this works not only as a sequel but a scene-setter to see what else this brave and scary new world has to offer.

Iain MacLeod