Twenty-eight years have passed since the rage virus escaped from a biological weapons laboratory. The area remains under a strict quarantine, but some have managed to find ways to survive among the infected. One such group resides on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily defended causeway. When a member of this group embarks on a mission into the dark heart of the mainland, he uncovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have transformed not only the infected but also other survivors.
After a recent run of revisits to the first two films at the cinema, I was excited to see 28 Years Later, and after being teased with a scene from the new release before one of the cinema screenings, I was bursting to see it even more.
28 Years Later takes us back to the start, and then we jump 28 years to find that Britain is still under quarantine and the rest of the world is clear of the “rage” virus. We are introduced a the family that will be the key characters in the film as they are surviving in a community that is on an island that is only accessible when the tide is out.
Spike (Alfie Williams) and his father (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) head out from the island and start to bond after shooting the infected with arrows. This is nicely shot as we get a type of freeze frame shot with the kills that looks good. We are introduced to some new type of infected, huge ones that crawl along the floor and a new “Alpha” that is extremely tall and has his tackle hanging out (plenty of laughs in the cinema over that moment). The Alpha seems to be able to be a pack leader of the infected, and this is something that I would love to see more of, but sadly, not as we don’t get much infected and get more of the growth of the family and their journey.
Spike notices a fire in the distance, and his father brushes it off, but later we learn about Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), who could be able to cure Spike’s mother (Jodie Comer).
28 Years Later is a very different film from its predecessors; it’s slow, and it seems to drag along. Yes, there are some great moments, such as the scene in the cottage with an infected character that has a name carved on its chest, and we also get a powerful moment with Spike (Williams), Isla (Comer) and Kelson (Fiennes) that had me welling up and almost bursting into tears.
The music by Young Fathers for the release is good and very atmospheric, but I missed the music of John Murphy. Cinematography looks great, and, amazingly, the film was shot with iPhone 15s, which blew my mind!