Film Review: Beyond horror... latest 28 Years Later film is violent to extreme

When Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later burst onto the scene in 2002, it didn’t just add another entry to the zombie genre; it fundamentally reinvented it.

Gone were the slow, predictable monsters of old; Boyle’s infected are fast, violent, and shockingly real, turning a familiar horror trope into something immediate and terrifying.

The film also introduced Cork’s Cillian Murphy to a much wider audience, marking a turning point in his career. His portrayal of a man navigating a devastated world is understated yet magnetic, offering an early glimpse of the acclaimed actor he would become.

The franchise continued with 28 Weeks Later, though Boyle and Murphy were not involved, and it has been largely forgotten.

When news of the next film, 28 Years Later, broke, fan excitement reignited. Boyle returned to the director’s chair, with Murphy taking on a producing role.

The film is the first of a trilogy, eventually promising the return of Murphy’s character. But would Jim be a rare example of a human survivor, or would he return as a cannibalistic zombie?

Theories abound online, keeping the fan base speculating and eagerly awaiting answers.

Jim did not appear in 28 Years Later, leaving fans to wonder if he’ll finally make a comeback in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, or if his fate will remain unresolved until the trilogy’s conclusion.

The Bone Temple, directed by Nia DaCosta, picks up after the events of the previous film. The story follows Isla (Jodie Comer), her husband Jamie (Aaron Taylor?Johnson), and their son Spike (Alfie Williams) as they risk everything by leaving the safety of their quarantined island for the hazardous mainland.

During their journey, they cross paths with Dr Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), a doctor whose unconventional approach to the undead sets him apart from other survivors.

By the film’s conclusion, Spike encounters the cult leader Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell), who appears ready to mentor him - a pivotal development that shapes Spike’s fate as The Bone Temple begins.

Jimmy Crystal, a survivor who was just a boy when the virus broke out, has since grown into a wildly sadistic leader, gathering children and teenagers to serve as his feral, bloodthirsty minions.

Jimmy dresses as disgraced personality Jimmy Savile and forces his followers to do the same. He names each member of the cult Jimmy and entertains them with bizarre stories from his childhood, often recounting the Teletubbies’ adventures.

Jimmy’s cruelty has no limits. He forces the kids to fight to the death, laughing in their faces as they lie dying. Spike has no idea how to escape and is quickly absorbed into Jimmy’s deranged group.

The film shows the true depths of Jimmy’s depravity when he takes a family hostage, ordering his teenage followers to string them up and torture them for entertainment. Sounds like a lovely film, eh?

Elsewhere, Dr Kelson continues to reside in his Bone Temple, a lonely outpost in the middle of an open field, obsessively searching for a cure for the virus. In the last film, Kelson developed a strange bond with an alpha zombie, who he keeps docile with sedatives and has named Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry).

Over time, Samson begins to visit Kelson more frequently, drawn by the sense of peace the sedatives provide. With each encounter, their unlikely connection deepens.

Kelson becomes convinced that fragments of Samson’s pre-virus humanity remain locked inside, prompting him to spend hours talking and even singing to him. Their relationship takes a surreal turn as Kelson and Samson, the enormous naked zombie, without a shred of clothing, end up dancing together like mad stoners at Glastonbury.

Eventually, Kelson’s world collides with the Jimmy gang, but rather than kill Kelson, Jimmy talks to him and asks him to do him a favour. This favour leads to some of the maddest scenes I have seen in a film in a long time. It is a visually striking scene of mania. I’m not even sure I can describe what it is.

This meeting of two sides, Kelson and the Jimmys, will end in deaths, but who will survive, and how does this bring Cillian Murphy back into the fold?

While it is never predictable and has some terrific performances, particularly by Fiennes, the violence is nasty and hard to reconcile. When zombies are ripping people’s heads off, it is somehow alright; they are devoid of their humanity. In a world full of monsters, the idea of humans being the bigger monster is hard to fathom. Can we not just go back to zombies eating people?