Reviews

Director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland helped revitalise and popularise the zombie genre with their post-apocalyptic horror film 28 Days Later back in 2002. And now, after 23 years, they’re back with a new offering, 28 Years Later.

As the title suggests, it’s been 28 years since the Rage Virus spread throughout Great Britain and essentially turned almost everyone into zombie-like creatures called the infected.

Rather than reconvene with the first film’s protagonist Jim, played by Cillian Murphy, 28 Years Later tells a new story with a new set of characters.

It is essentially a coming-of-age story that follows Spike (Alfie Williams), a 12-year-old boy who has spent his whole life on Holy Island, also known as Lindisfarne, which can only be accessed by a single causeway at low tide.

The film begins with Spike going to the mainland for the first time with his father, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), to witness and kill the infected for the first time.

This portion of the film moves at quite a frantic pace, with choppy edits, unusual camera movements and an onslaught of archival imagery that hammers home its political and social commentary.

It is also where you’ll find the most horrifying moments, from thrilling chase scenes involving the franchise’s signature fast zombies, to gruesome slow-mo kills and some gross new zombie evolutions.

The second half of the story depicts Spike’s second adventure on the mainland, this time with his mother, Isla (Jodie Comer), who is battling a mysterious illness.

Spike wants to track down the fabled Dr Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) to find out what’s wrong and make her better.

This section is much slower and heartfelt and packs more of an emotional punch than you’d expect from a zombie horror. Comer is moving, Williams is a revelation, and Fiennes is a scene-stealer as the eccentric doctor.

It’s not perfect, though – the script and CGI are iffy in places, it’s hard to tell if the laughs are intentional or not, and the new Alpha zombie loses its impact due to repetition.

The decision to film on iPhones also produces mixed results, as the footage inconsistently oscillates between hi-res and grainy.

Then there’s the baffling head-scratcher of an epilogue that introduces Jack O’Connell.

To avoid spoilers, let’s just say that it’s an absolute curveball that suggests the next film, The Bone Temple, might be a horror-comedy. We’ll have to wait and see next year!

28 Years Later was never going to replicate the success of the genre-defining 28 Days Later. Thankfully, Boyle and Garland don’t try to repeat themselves; they are doing something new. It’s a shame they don’t quite pull it off.

In cinemas from Thursday 19th June.

By Hannah Wales.

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