28 Years Later Review: An Apocalyptic Coming of Age Story

Danny Boyle’s return to the gory chaos of the Rage virus is reimagined with 28 Years Later. After such a long wait (18 years) from 28 Weeks Later, this film is more than just a revamp – it’s been reborn. I’ll tell you this: the film I watched in theaters is nothing I expected compared to the trailers I was fed. I was shocked for a majority of it, confused a few times, and surprisingly laughed quite a bit. 28 Weeks Later, while derived from its former plot, runs as fast as it can down a completely new path. I can’t quite say I loved it, but it was entertaining beyond doubt and full of surprises that kept me at attention. 

This film is in theaters now. 

• Keen’s recommended horror films for June. 

Story – A New Chapter

Let’s start by getting the story straight, this is not a typical zombie film. Sure, those infected by the Rage are sort of zombified versions of themselves, but they are 100% alive human beings. All of their bodily functions operate as normal – something very important to remember for later on. Surprisingly, this is more of a coming of age film than anything else. 

Jamie insists that Spike kills the strung up infected on their hunt.

The film starts off with a small recap on what has happened in the last 28 years since the Rage was released, including a moment of a young boy escaping on his own during a hoard attack on his home. 28 years later, we meet our current characters who reside on Holy Island, an isolated and resource regressed community. 12 year old Spike and his father, Jamie, are about to leave for the mainland with the goal of Spike getting his first kill – a ritual typically done when a boy reaches 14 on the island. Their hunt turns dangerous when they run into a group of infected led by an Alpha, as Jamie calls it. Eventually they make their return home in time for the celebration of Spike’s entry to manhood.

Jamie and Spike run for their lives to make it back to the Holy Island.

The next day, Spike decides to return to the mainland with his bedridden mother by his side in hopes to find a cure for the unknown sickness she endures. Here, the story shifts from a father and son bond to mother and son, still through the lens of Spike’s own coming of age story. There’s heavy symbolism of love and nurture coexisting with rage and chaos. As well as a nod to the way history will always repeat itself in some way for the sake of progression. 

Characters and Performance – Young Star Rising

I think the best performances were led by Alfie Williams (Spike) and his scene mother (Isla), Jodie Comer. Williams did an exceptional job at being a 12 year old trying to figure out how to navigate the world on his own terms. Nothing he did surprised me, and his reactions to intense moments was spot on. Jodie Comer was much better to see on screen alongside Alfie than the father (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), but that is a bit of the point. Mom is nurturing and loving while dad is tough and idolized, primal stuff. Johnson’s screen time was not enough for me to judge for better or worse. All the characters made sense to me in how they reacted to one another and the world around them.

Spike, Isla, and Doctor Kelson making their way to safety.

Cinematography and Sound – Nurture Within Nature 

I believe the cinematography was actually stunning. Nothing was too dark to see like most of the horror films released within the last few years. In fact, it seemed like most of the film was shot during the daytime. Every setting matched the moment, nothing really felt out of place, and it only seemed to be enhanced by the cinematography. A great example of this is when Spike and Isla are traveling through the mainland’s fields while Isla is dealing with a hazy mind. The field around them is a stark contrast to the bleak world they exist in. It’s full of warm sunshine, a cool breeze, blooming purple flowers. It fees peaceful through the screen, despite the infected hiding around. One of my favorite scenes was during Spike and Jamie’s hunt, where they come across a stampede of deer in the middle of a lush valley. These moments indicate peace within nature.

The infected wait in beautiful flower fields to attack.

On the other hand, there are signs of danger too. A flock of birds, perhaps an ode to Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds (1963), symbolizes doom. At one point, Spike has a nightmare that’s shot through a red filter and a stormy setting – making it feel uncomfortable for us as well. 

The soundtrack is…not my favorite. I found it unserious, and the ending really nailed that coffin closed.

Editing and Pacing – An Entertaining Fever Dream 

There is brute interjections of war media, clips of 28 Days and Weeks, and moments of training on the Holy Island compiled at the beginning half of the film. It’s haunting, truly. Overall, the cuts within scenes left me feeling a little whiplashed. It felt unclean, almost like found footage. Boyle’s partner on this film was Alex Garland, and his creative touch is proudly displayed during the action scenes. When an infected was hit, we were hit with a double sided freeze frame. It was fun at first, but then it happened every time and it wasn’t that fun anymore. I also noticed that when something was being observed far away, the focal zoom was manually operated – shakily at that. 

The camera crew utilized up to 20 iPhones to capture the action shots.

The overall pacing of the film felt okay. There were some moments that just felt like filler to make it a longer runtime, like when Isla and Spike meet up with a soldier. The soldier shows Spike a photo of his ex on his iPhone (Spike has no idea what a cellphone even is) and there’s commentary on the woman’s superficial appearance. Not integral to the story at all, and it kind of broke me away from the film. Breaks within the pacing happen a few times, but I quickly got roped back in with the following scenes.