28 Years Later (2025) Review

 

After a dangerous journey with his father to the mainland, witnessing firsthand how the Rage virus has evolved, Jamie and his mother Anna return to a devastated Britain, seeking help and answers they can't find in the heavily fortified tidal causeway seclusion of Lindisfarne Island - with deadly consequences.

Danny Boyle takes back directing duties for this third instalment, retaining the signature observational grit and raw tension from 28 Days and Weeks Later. The tone is familiar but fresh, and it lives up to its title.

Cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle frames the post-apocalyptic landscape with haunting visuals - ruined buildings, forests overtaking roads and settlements, beautiful sunsets and sunrises. Boyle includes Hadrian's Wall and the Sycamore Gap tree (which was criminally cut down in 2023), grounding the film in unsettling reality.

Editor Jon Harris crafts a suspenseful rhythm using old film clips - silent half-beats broken by sudden bursts of violence or ominous breath. Music by Young Fathers, along with the sound design, builds atmosphere: from distant growls to echoing footsteps, the world is alive - or infected - beneath the quiet.

28 Years Later echoes thematic threads from Survival of the Dead (the island idea), the "Alpha" concept in Army of the Dead, and Dawn of the Dead (2004)'s pregnancy scene, yet avoids copying. Danny Boyle, with a new story written by Alex Garland, expands the Rage universe while playing against audience expectations.

Young Alfie Williams delivers a quietly powerful performance as Spike - vulnerable, fierce, and believable. Oozing screen presence Aaron Taylor-Johnson Jr. Is impressive as Jamie, even if the script gives him limited screentime. Jodie Comer brings depth to Isla, though her character never quite earns the full sympathy the heroes did in earlier films. Ralph Fiennes' affecting presence is a welcome addition.

Like the stunts the gore and make-up effects are stomach-churning - visceral, wince-inducing, and startlingly real. Surprisingly classified with a 15 certificate in the UK, the film isn't afraid to get its hands dirty. In its left-field ending, it teases a connection back to the original's opening, leaving a chilling sense of continuity and the promise of more violence and death to come.

Overall, 28 Years Later is bloody, and unexpectedly heartfelt. It honours the legacy, surprises expectations, and leaves you haunted. An entertaining, if occasionally uneven, expansion of Boyle's dark, virus-ravaged world.