28 YEARS LATER

Danny Boyle, acclaimed in recent years for SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (10 Oscar nominations) and 127 HOURS, returns to the world of rabid zombies. With 28 YEARS LATER, he picks up the story two decades on from the apocalyptic events of the 2002 original. Boyle once again joins forces with Alex Garland – an equally big name in contemporary cinema thanks to EX MACHINA and CIVIL WAR – to explore not just the wreckage of an isolated Britain, but above all the journey of a boy forced to grow up too soon when he sets out on a perilous rescue mission.  Although there is no shortage of infected zombies spewing litres of blood, Boyle offers more than just a post-apocalyptic horror film. At the heart of 28 WEEKS LATER is the intimate relationship between a mother and son, fighting to preserve their closeness, in a world full of predators.

We meet Spike (a superb debut from Alfie Williams) on an initiatory journey with his father (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), leaving their island sanctuary that provides safety for the survivors for the very first time. That is an opportunity for him to prove his courage in the spirit of stereotypical masculinity, i.e. by being a ruthless, fearless zombie eliminator. But true heroism emerges when he chooses instead to save his mother, Isla (Jodie Comer). She is suffering from an unknown disease, and there is no doctor in the safe haven who can help her. With his father already resigned to her fate, Spike defies him and sets out across the mainland with Isla in search of their last hope – the eccentric Dr Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes).

This young protagonist represents a generation whose strength lies in a powerful feeling that motivates them to take risks. Beneath the survival horror trappings, this is a haunting coming-of-age tale, where the greater challenge lies not in fighting off the infected, but in learning to live with loss and to hold on to humanity when the world insists that it is impossible.

28 YEARS LATER reframes the questions raised by the 2002 original, resonating all the more sharply today in the wake of Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic and rising nationalism.

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Text: Michał Sołtysek