28 YEARS LATER: Brings Spark Back to a Decades-Old Series

28 Years Later is that rare sequel that both honors and builds upon the original film, which when it came out, was also quite revolutionary in the zombie genre. Not only are the zombies way faster in this series than the slow-paced ones in shows like The Walking Dead, it also brought forth thought-provoking themes, showing the lengths that people will go to in order to survive and also to just feel like a human being in a fraught, dystopian world.

28 Weeks Later picks up after the first movie, when the creatures had mostly starved and the UK was free of them, only to, if you’ve seen it, be invaded yet again. But where this latest film treads is less of a copy-paste approach of the first two, and more of an introspective glance at how humanity and communities survive when closed off from the outside world. It’s amongst the more dynamically interesting recent movies of the zombie genre.

28 Years Later

28 years after the virus first came out, we’re back in the UK, in this case in a small island off the coast of Scotland, where people have lived self-sufficiently for all that time. They are trained extensively to fight the now-evolved human monsters, and it’s a right of passage to finally make your way over to the mainland UK. In this story, we focus on Spike (Alfie Williams), his father Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), and his often confused, sick mother Isla (Jodie Comer).

At the start, Spike and his father make their first journey together to the mainland, where they encounter the different styles of zombie monsters. After things go awry, they are forced to fight for their lives, though Spike learns a lot about both this world and himself in the process, doing his best to survive while also mingling with people who have survived in this strange world outside his island.

Grainy and Gritty

Much like the previous films, and especially similar to the original, 28 Years Later looks very different from your typical modern survival thriller. It is shot in a grainy style, in a way looking almost like an old-school documentary. Once you get accustomed to it, it fits very well stylistically with this type of film, lending itself to the feeling that we are forced to live here amongst these characters as they are chased by blood-hungry humanoid creatures.

As far as monsters, be prepared for a plethora of forms, from the bulbous crawling type to marathon-running naked screeching monsters, to the “alphas,” who are impossibly tall creatures that are as smart as they are unstoppable. The practical effects here, as well as the close-up shots and tight editing of the monster scenes (there’s one on a train that is particularly gripping), create an unnerving, unsettling atmosphere. Some of these scenes equal and even exceed the raw tension present in the two previous movies.

28 Years Later does tend to overdo one trope in the film, and that is its use of intercutting scenes alongside the action, such as many scenes of soldiers in war. It’s meant to unsettle, and to transpose you into that survival mindset that people in wartime have; often, though, it can be distracting, pulling the viewer away from the already gritty nature of what is happening to the characters on-screen. It’s not enough to completely take you out of the movie, but it is something that is hopefully dialed down in future entries.

Memento Mori

Where 28 Years Later excels even more than its action is in some of its quieter moments. An example can be seen when we meet up with Ralph Fiennes‘ character (a scene-stealer if there ever was one), a man who has survived on the mainland for decades and has developed survival skills in addition to some wild eccentricities, including building a wall of skulls made from people he has encountered that have recently died. He teaches young Spike about the idea of memento mori, the fact that everything must die. Here, Spike grows even more than in the previous moments where his father attempted to teach him how to kill zombies. It’s the type of life lesson that is essential to young minds, even more than the idea that you only become an adult when you learn so-called “essential” adult skills. Whereas the action gives 28 Years Later its edge, its moments like these that give it heart.

The film also succeeds on the back of its actors’ strengths. Aaron Taylor-Johnson has his moments early on, showing charisma and fortitude in a fatherly role, but it’s Jodie Comer who has even more of an impact, in an emotionally-driven role of a strong woman who has lost a part of herself. The young Alfie Williams also shines brightly in a central role that has him front and center for much of the movie. I eagerly anticipate where they bring his character in the next installment.

Final Takeaway and Conclusion

28 Years Later excels in the way it does not because it’s yet another zombie movie in an endless array of them, but because it offers something different; whether it’s the authentic way it is shot (some of it was actually shot on a series of iPhones), or just the fact that it doesn’t overwhelm the viewer in endless scenes of zombie violence. Though it does contain plenty of action, it doesn’t overly depend on it; instead, the film suceeds by both developing its world and making its viewers question the meaning of life in a world cut off from civilization.

This film is also the first movie in a newly planned trilogy. While this first entry expands and builds upon this universe and themes, it only seems to be headed in an even more exciting direction. And we thankfully only have to wait a year in which to see it. With director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland behind the the scenes yet again, I can’t wait to see where we are headed next time around.

28 Years Later is now playing in theaters.