28 Years Later

Official Australian release date: 19/6/25. Viewed: 22/6/25.
Director: Danny Boyle
Actors: Alfie Williams, Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes
Genre: Horror / Thriller
Rating: MA

’28 Years Later’ continues the fast-zombie series, coming 23 years after ’28 Days Later’ and 18 years after ’28 Weeks Later’. We have a whole new cast, living on a small island just off the coast of north-east England, as the UK remains quarantined from the rest of the world. We meet Spike (Williams) and his parents, Isla (Comer) and Jamie (Taylor-Johnson), as Spike is now old enough to go hunting-and-gathering back on the mainland. Everything obviously goes well…

The start is a flashback to the outbreak of the rage virus and helps re-establish the infected/zombies. Then things settle into a survivor thriller, with a bit of a different pacing. The score is good, but the soundtrack is very odd and seems mismatched – I guess on purpose. The same can be said for some of the red “dream” footage and old war footage – while trying to foreshadow or illuminate history repeating, it’s a little distracting at times. Same for some of the grainer (apparently from iPhones) footage, meant to be similar to the ow-budget original film – contrasts a fair bit with the real footage.

Even though the pacing and tone is different from the other 2 films, it’s quite quick (just under 2 hours) and does a good job of setting up the imminent sequels. All the actors are good – always nice to see Fiennes, as Dr Kelson here – with the main family of 3 having plenty to work with. Some gruesome moments, but nothing as iconic as the helicopter from last time. Some questions posed, some answered and an intriguing ending.

Overall: Non-standard zombie sequel, will be back for more

Gav’s Rating: 3.5 stars