28 Years Later is terrifying to watch, and was just as scary to make

Yahoo

4 hours ago

28 Years Later continues the tradition set out in 28 Days Later, of creating a terrifying British horror film that will have audiences quaking in their seats, and the cast tell Yahoo UK they felt much the same.
The movie returns to the dystopian world created by Danny Boyle and Alex Garland, humanity are on the edge with the survivors in the UK living in fear of the Rage virus that has infected most of the population. The country has been abandoned by the rest of the world, quarantined so that the infection can't get out and spread further following a scare in 28 Weeks Later.
A few survivors live on Lindisfarne, which is also known as Holy Island, and they only travel to the mainland if they have to or for a right of passage. The film opens with 12-year-old Spike (Alfie Williams) being taken by his father Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) to nab his first kill, only for things to quickly go south. What this means is there are a number of encounters with infected over the course of the film, which were terrifying even for the cast.
"It's intense, it's terrifying but also it's kind of fun and exciting. It's always good to play in this in this world," Taylor-Johnson admits to Yahoo UK, as he and Williams add they were frightened whilst filming a sequence on the Lindisfarne causeway that sees them running away from a 7 foot tall stunt performer portraying a new type of infected called an Alpha.
Jodie Comer, who plays Spike's mum Isla, felt similarly when she had to face infected on set as she says: "There's some intense moments. But like you said, they're elaborate [scenes]. I think there's a lot of structure and choreography that goes into some of these moments, which sometimes kind of breaks up the reality.
"But it's funny because I feel like for the first period of filming I spent a lot of time walking, talking in these beautiful locations, and then I was like met with an Infected and I was like, 'ohh yeah, sorry, this is also what happens in this film!'
"I remember there was a sequence in the Happy Eater, which is like a disused petrol station, and me and Alfie run through these fields and were up to our knees in nettles being chased by stunt performers who are the infected. And they don't take the pace off, you know what I mean?
"They're incredible and also you've been in hair and makeup for 3-5 hours in the morning, so there's not a lot that you're having to imagine. And then you're playing that you're hyperventilating and sprinting for your life. And then it's like, 'right, OK, go again'."
The film is led not by its starry cast but by Williams, who has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders to keep the story afloat. It was a lot for the actor to deal with: "There was a lot of pressure, obviously, because 28 Days is just amazing. So I felt a lot of pressure on my shoulders, but working with such lovely people, and talented actors, it kind of soothed that, and it felt so much easier and fun."
Comer was particularly impressed with her young co-star and said she even learned a valuable lesson from him and his approach to the craft: "I met Alfie 2 weeks before we started filming in Newcastle. We had like a two weeks rehearsal period where us, as the family, could get together and we went through the script with Danny and Alex and got familiar with each other and tried to create this kind of history, but it was so clear from the moment I met him [that he could do it].
"We sat around the table and he knew all his lines, he was so vocal about his interpretation, what he felt about the scene, asking really smart questions. Like there was just a real fearlessness about him, which I was inspired by, you know what I mean? I still have my moments where I'm like, 'oh, is this a stupid idea?' And I was like, 'no, you're part of the team, take up space and share yourself in that way'. So that was really lovely to witness."
Comer also found solace in her co-star Ralph Fiennes, who plays reclusive survivor Dr Kelson whom Spike and Isla meet on their journey. It is with the actor that the film presents its first glimpse of the Bone Temple that the forthcoming third film in the franchise is named after.
"It was kind of serendipitous," Comer says. "Because we got to the Bone Temple at the end of the shoot, so we'd played all the journey out, really. Spike always speaking about this doctor, and then we arrived there on this beautiful location in North Yorkshire and this structure, this set, had been built six months prior, it was right next to a river. We were on night shoots and it was like a full moon, there was wind chimes on the set made of bones and so there was like this constant flow of music going through it.
"And I think Ralph's energy, and the energy of Dr Kelson, was so perfect, like me and Alfie kind of just feels like we ran into his arms and he guided us and took charge because that was his space. You really felt like you were in his domain and there was just something so tender about those scenes, and it felt like we were both very ready to be led by Kelson in that moment, so it was lovely."
But working with Boyle was a particular highlight for the cast because of the way it felt like a moment to be there when he returned to one of his most iconic works.
"I've been a massive fan of Danny for years," Comer says. "And it's so beautiful when you meet someone and realise that they're just as equally as a lovely human being.
"He really sets a very high standard, in a sense of the way he treats people, the way he conducts himself, how playful he is, how energetic he is. He's so personable, so it was an amazing experience, considering when you watch the film it takes you on a roller coaster it was a very lighthearted intimate set."
It was a sentiment shared by Taylor-Johnson, who adds: "He's amazing, just lovely, the warmness and so much energy that it meant every day felt wonderful to go to work and be in his presence. He is super creative, we're so fortunate that it's the whole team for 28 days who came back. Alex Garland was writing the script, Anthony Dod Mantle was the cinematographer.
"They shot it on camcorder back then, now they're shooting on iPhones so they were being inventive in a whole other way. So this wasn't like a usual film set, it was just everyday there were new, exciting obstacles and things."
The actor adds: "It's so cool, when you watch this movie it's so immersive and you are almost a fly on the wall at times within these scenes. It was great to be in that environment."
28 Years Later premieres in UK cinemas on Thursday, 19 June.