28 Years Later (2025), Dir Danny Boyle, Sony Pictures Releasing, 4☆☆☆☆. Review: Matthew Alicoon.

28 Years Later (2025), Dir Danny Boyle, Sony Pictures Releasing,

4☆☆☆☆. Review: Matthew Alicoon.

Running Time: 115 Minutes

Cinema – Horror – Thriller – Zombie

“The zombies linger, but the losses hit harder”.

28 Years Later picks up almost three decades after the events of 28 Days Later, after the rage virus escaped from a biological weapons laboratory. This film follows 12 year old Spike (Alfie Williams), as he embarks on a mission into the mainland discovering the truth and reality of how the mutation has impacted individuals.

On initial reaction, 28 Years Later was difficult to pin down. The film concludes with a sense of incompletion and is more of a set-up for what is to come. It suffers from a similar syndrome to a film like mission impossible dead reckoning: part one, where 28 years later leaves you suspended in anticipation wanting more.

The story is a game of two halves, which I think could polarise audiences. Courageously, the second half of the film takes a very audacious and introspective swing. What the film pivots into is a coming of age character study through the eyes of Spike (Alfie Williams). 28 Years Later is a film with a distinctive focus of remembering what death is like during an apocalypse and the psychological imprint it can leave onto us as individuals. This storytelling was wonderfully innovative, as when seeing the trailers there was a drastic subversion of expectations. I admired the film so much for taking a sympathetic character driven approach, that can feel uncommon for a film operating in this space. It was as if the zombies in the second half of the film became redundant, which could sway your opinion instinctively in either favour of the film. However, for me the shift felt deliberate and, in many ways, quietly striking. Alex Garland’s script for 28 Years Later does not feel too engineered to satisfy genre expectations, in fact it actively challenges and breaks conventions. When the focus is lost on the zombies, I realised this is not a film about external threats, however internal grief.

The performances across the film are uniformly astonishing. Alfie Williams is a revelation, with such a quietly haunting restraint and emotionally precise vulnerability that is brilliantly conveyed. Jodie Comer’s accent work continues to astonish me and she is phenomenal in bringing such tenderness, rawness and protectiveness to the mother. Even with little dialogue at times, Jodie Comer continues to wow me with her enigmatic screen presence. The best scene is completely devoid of spectacle, that elevates the film and leaves a lingering imprint involving  Jodie Comer, Alfie Williams and Ralph Fiennes.

The zombie action is entertaining, however after rewatching the previous instalments, 28 Years Later seems less concerned with the set pieces. 28 weeks later is still the strongest on insanely over-the-top zombie action. I do think audiences may inevitably compare stakes with the previous instalments and for some this may prove disappointing.

This might be divisive; however the film could have stripped back the zombie action even further and I would have been even more satisfied. If 28 years later was a 2 hour character study in overcoming death and being about the question of love, that just happened to be set during a zombie apocalypse. I think this would have had the potential to reach extraordinary territory. The best moments come from the quiet conversations and restrained vulnerabilities.

However, the tone shifts in the ending with an over cranked and over stylised quality that felt at odds with the emotions that came just before. The ending is there to set up part 2, yet it feels like it is out of a different film.

Overall, I still had a strong emotional response with the film and I loved the tenacious narrative focus in the second half. 28 Years Later’s quieter moments powerfully strike along with the deeply compassionate performances. The film excels with its narrative sentimentality and serious-minded attitude with the focus on survival.

Cast

Alfie Williams as Spike

Jodie Comer as Isla

Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Jamie

Ralph Fiennes as Dr Ian Kelson

Edvin Ryding as Erik Sundqvist

Jack O'Connell as Sir Jimmy Crystal

Crew

Director – Danny Boyle

Screenwriter – Alex Garland

Producers – Andrew Macdonald, Peter Rice, Bernie Bellew, Danny Boyle & Alex Garland

Cinematographer – Anthony Dod Mantle

Editor – Jon Harris

Music – Young Fathers