INITIAL THOUGHTS
After waiting 18 years since 28 Weeks, and 23 years since 28 Days, the payoff and continuation of this story was worth every bit of the wait. This is not just an amazing zombie horror film, this is an amazing film outright and has real claim to clash with the other bangers of the year in the movie of the year conversation of 2025. The beauty of the franchise is that it doesn’t try to just boil down and be a simple, straight forward zombie film. These films sculpt a story that resonates with viewers and blends it with the vehicle perfectly that is zombie horror in a post apocalyptic United Kingdom. This film follows the same formula of style with a lot of camera tricks and angles, surprisingly done primarily with rigs of iPhones and felt like a revolutionary way to accomplish certain shots in the next evolution of film making. Also the effects are awesome. Blood feels very realistic, kills and gore including the ripping of heads and spines out of the body look top tier also. The direction this movie takes is so well done I greatly appreciate that I did not see it coming and it is rare that a film like this has you begging to see more of the story that the trilogy will unfold.
COMING OF AGE TALE IN A ZOMBIE HORROR?!?!
I have to hit the film’s highest point off rip I feel like. This is a coming of age movie. And it’s one of the best coming of age stories in a film you will lay your eyes on. Spike you expect to have this imminent strong father-son bond of teaching him how to be on the mainland and help bring resources to their island to flourish. Instead we see after some time that’s not what Spike wants. He wants to take care of his mother in her sick condition and immediately has some friction with his dad (Aaron Taylor Johnson). He doesn’t like that his dad is lying on his behalf and leaving his mom sickly in bed to galavant around town about his boy. You still have a feeling when Spike and Jamie aren’t getting along that it will be quickly repaired and they’ll have some big showdown on the mainland with the Alpha zombie (who scarily stares them down overnight in one of my favorite shots of the film). Nope. Instead the story takes a quick turn and Spike brings his sick mother into the mainland without anyone knowing where they went in search of finding a doctor for her. This is when I feel the film hits its stride.
The film slows down here. In a very good way. You get the building of the relationship between Spike and his mom making for some extremely caring moments of him protecting (learning to protect) his mom and interpreting for her basically to Erik after he saves them. It comes off extremely loving and caring and hits home for anyone that gets emotional about a story of the child caretaking for their parents. Throughout all this story building, we do get some great zombie moments too though. We get the Alpha Zombie chasing down the troops in the tunnel, the zombies running through the high flower field and through the gas station at Spike and his mom, and the train chase after a zombie gives birth to a baby that is not infected which is a wild concept and will get explored further in the trilogy I’m sure. That’s what makes these films so good in my opinion. At the surface and roots of the film it’s a zombie film, but heart of this makes sure we know how important the mother son coming of age story is for Spike as he is set up as the main character of this trilogy.
I don’t know if the coming of age story will satisfy everyone because they may just want zombie gore this and zombie gore that, rather than a slower story that plays a major piece of the trilogy.
We expect Dr. Kelson to be some scary madman based on the story lore and what everyone from the island say about him. But it’s quick to see he is one of the most caring men there is in helping Spike and his mother. Unfortunately he cannot help Isla to the degree Spike hopes. Fearing cancer is what is deteriorating her mental. And having to then explain to Spike how he couldn’t help her cancer, something that her father never cared to get her help for or explain to Spike which I think is crucial in figuring their relationship as well. There is a beautiful exchange by Spike and Isla at the end that is such a heart string pulling scene that I surprisingly was almost brought to tears which I did not expect in this film. Spike then choosing the best place for his mother’s skull in the modern world’s version of a burial putting her atop the skull tower structure so she can face the sunrise forever is just so poetically done I couldn’t have dreamed that is how the film would close (before some tom foolery happens in the ending scene).
ZOMBIES MAY BE DEAD, BUT CINEMATOGRAPHY IN A ZOMBIE FILM IS NOT DEAD
This movie is shot and filmed in an extremely unique way. Using 20 iPhones even on a rig at times to capture certain angles, scene transitions and action impacts that traditional cameras would have had trouble doing or have needed a cut to make happen. Innovation like this keeps film making alive and exciting to a degree that it makes all of film a better place when people are thinking outside the box to accomplish their visions. Anthony Mantle and Danny Boyle brought this vision to life. And it still felt like it’s shot in the same vein as 28 Days and 28 Weeks. I struggle to find the word for it but shaky camera, flipping angles and gritty feels enough to describe what makes 28 Years Later feel so in tune with its predecessors. There are also some magnificent shots and sequences in this film. My favorite being the Alpha standing in the field staring at Spike and Jamie in the loft of the house they are hiding in. Just so menacing and using the backdrop of the moonlit sky to their advantage to highlight the silhouette of the stature of the Alpha. Just perfect. The sequence running across the water being chased down by an Alpha also was extremely well done with the stars and sky patterns being shown as they kick up water running towards their island before fire spears light up the scenes. Just so many great shots and angles used it makes the cinematography a key aspect of this film excelling to the degree it did.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I am a lover of this franchise, and the fact we are getting a new trilogy and this is the kickoff to it could not be any better of a reality to be in. When Spike sends a letter and the baby home you are unsure of what his plan is, but it’s to make a life on his own and survive without being under the wing of his father. This is his time to stand on his own and mature in a way differently than what his father and so many others did on the island during this time of the Zombie apocalypse. Which leads us to a divisive ending exchange that is sure to be explored in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. Spike is running from zombies on the mainland and hits a stone wall, only to be surprised by Jack O’Connell as Sir Jimmy Crystal (a gas cunt in his words whatever the fuck the Irish mean by that). Decked in chains, rings, and European jump suits that look like a goofy ass power rangers group. Now they do some fucking damage though on these zombies in some extremely unique and unorthodox killing ways, all before introducing himself to Spike. Dawning a golden cross upside down hanging from his neck revealing he is the boy from the opening church scene flashback. This is sure to explore how others on the mainland are handling surviving the zombies and how not everyone is handling it like some old times apocalyptic town like the island is. I am so ready to see more from Sir Jimmy Crystal and the group of Jimmies.
The Cinema Speakeasy Theatre Room 
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