28 Years Later Ends On A Cliffhanger, And The Filmmakers Explain Why They Did That Even Without The New Trilogy Greenlighted

Yahoo

30-06-2025

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Warning: massive spoilers for 28 Years Later are quarantined within. If you haven't made your cinematic journey to the mainland yet, you've been warned.
Well folks, we made it. Almost 23 years later, the 2025 movie schedule has reunited the world with the zombie-adjacent apocalypse of 28 Years Later. With a planned trilogy in the works, and a second film already in the can, that cliffhanger you've just witnessed is quite something - especially since the potential third entry is still being considered for a greenlight.
That's not only left people questioning this first chapter's ending, but also has us wondering if we'll see a bigger cliffhanger in January's sequel The Bone Temple. So if you haven't seen this film yet, you can divert to our 28 Years Later review and stay spoiler-free. I say that because I need to talk about what happens in the finale, as well as how Danny Boyle and Alex Garland view the story's pacing in relation to that uncertainty.
We see 28 Years Later ending with Spike's (Alfie Williams) seemingly random meeting with 'The Cult of Jimmy.' To some, this represents a jarring tonal shift, especially when Sir Jimmy Crystal (Jack O'Connell) and his merry band of rogues gleefully spring into action while wearing colored tracksuits.
This upbeat moment arrives after 28 Years Later's bittersweet tale, and that notion ties into my conversation with Danny Boyle and Alex Garland. That shift, as well as the cliffhanger nature of the movement, fits their approach to the stories ahead. And Mr. Boyle had something to say on the matter, which made it make the most sense. Here's what he told CinemaBlend:
That's not just like a bit of plot, it's how all the ingredients will bring us to the end. And so what's incredible about doing these is that, because Alex has set it up as a trilogy, you have an ending. You want a completion of your story, plus you want this idea that you've identified of handover, that's gonna take your hand you across to another kind of ingredient, another episode,I dunno what you call it. I don't wanna make it sound like a streaming television or something, but it's another part of the journey.
So, for those of you who thought that 28 Years Later ended on a random moment, relax. This is a planned trilogy, with a hook teasing where director Nia DaCosta's The Bone Temple will take things. And that ending didn't come out of nowhere, as Alex Garland's full vision expanded what was once one film into a three-picture epic.
When talking with the writer/director behind movies such as Civil War and Ex Machina, he turned me onto something I think we all forget at times. Alex Garland reminded me that even a 'low budget' film of a couple of million dollars is a 'massive amount of money' for anyone who isn't a captain of industry. So trying to play your cards to make sure that money is paid back is still playing it safe, which, as you'll read in his remarks to CinemaBlend, is the total opposite of what he intended to do:
Your ability to keep working within film is very often directly tied to the last thing you did, right? So you are sort of used to that. … The thing you are talking about is 'Is it gonna work? Is it gonna make enough money? Are we gonna be able to make the third one?' All of that just goes out the window, because on a day-by-day basis, you are simply focusing on making the thing you are in.
It's almost enough to make you want a 'Write Like No One's Paying' needlepoint to hang on the wall. Though if it were themed after 28 Years Later, it'd have to have some cool font choices, and a lot of blood. Some are probably miffed that despite clear indications being laid out, Cillian Murphy's planned return to the franchise hasn't even happened yet.
Admittedly, that would be the traditional hook to get folks in the door. But instead, Alex Garland and Danny Boyle have saved that card in the deck, as it probably won't be until later on in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple; with a major upgrade in the unproduced finale. Which is something that was probably decided when looking for the proper ending to a trilogy-starting entry.
Alex Garland's full story plan for 28 Years Later is still pretty unknown to the world at large. And considering 28 Days Later's history of ending decisions, anything could change between now and the release of that third film. Though that might put pressure on the more business-minded folks, that's just not how you tell a story–and Danny Boyle understands that–as you'll read in his continued remarks below:
You may have a great ending written, and you may well do that ending; but what you're doing is not looking for the budget. … You're just looking all the time in the shooting, and especially the editing, and in the process of sharing it with people, both test audiences and your peers. You're looking for the ending. 'Where is the ending? How are we gonna arrive at this ending?'
Spike's meeting with Sir Jimmy Crystal and his cult is a more mysterious final note, especially because of that tonal shift. And we can't really tell where it's going to lead, at least until the first trailer for 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple arrives. Which brings us back to the subject of the uncertain final chapter, and how Danny Boyle is confident it'll happen after all.
As an impatient fan, I share those worries about 28 Years Later's potential finale not being greenlit. During my previous interview with the director, back when he introduced the film's 28-minute sizzle reel, I posed the question of whether or not there's a backup plan. It was then that the Yesterday director gave me the most Danny Boyle answer he could:
You kind of always will make sure it comes home, because it's like we are committed to the idea of it. So we'll find a way. It's just like nature, it'll evolve so that we'll find a way of doing it. But hopefully we'll do well enough so that Sony will give us the money to complete it, and do the third one. And that will have Cillian in it. So that's the idea of it.
So just to recap: Cillian Murphy is supposed to be a major part of 28 Years Later's unnamed third chapter, with the potential to appear in The Bone Temple's ending 'hand off.' But without the market reflecting the people's desire for such a story, we may not get to see it. Whether the numbers on this first movie deliver or not, that leaves me thinking about a specific final note about the next cliffhanger in the line.
If you didn't like the ending of 28 Years Later, I apologize if what I'm about to say sounds like heresy. But we need to set the expectation that Nia DaCosta's entry in the saga is going to have an even bigger swing as its hand-off finale. It needs to, as middle entries in a trilogy tend to be more downbeat, while raising the stakes for a grand finale.
With 28 Years Later's impressive presales going into this weekend, I'm confident that the third movie will happen after all. And after talking to Danny Boyle and Alex Garland, I also feel that we'll see Spike's story ending in the way that best suits the overarching message.
So now it's just a case of getting in front of a screening of 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple as soon as humanly possible. But for those of you who either haven't seen the movie or want to revisit it to form your opinion, head to your nearest theater and prepare to embrace the Rage in a good way.