Movie review: '28 Years Later' takes ambitious, dubious risks
1 of 5 | From left, Alfie Williams, Jodie Comer and Ralph Fiennes star in "28 Years Later," in theaters Friday. Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.
LOS ANGELES, June 18 (UPI) -- 28 Years Later, in theaters Friday, takes many creative risks with the horror franchise. Just enough of those risks pay off to make the film worthwhile, though several threaten to derail the whole movie.
The sequel opens 28 years after the rage virus infected Britain in 2002's 28 Days Later. The region was quarantined by the rest of the world in the 2007 follow-up 28 Weeks Later, which ended with the virus spreading to mainland Europe.
28 Years Later introduces viewers to 12-year-old Spike (Alfie Williams), who lives in a gated Scottish community with his father, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), and ailing mother, Isla (Jodie Comer). Jamie takes Spike on his first excursion to the mainland, teaching the boy how to kill infected attackers with a bow and arrow.
Emboldened by his new skills, Spike ventures out again with his mother to search for the infamous Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), whom he hopes can treat Isla.
Returning director Danny Boyle, after skipping 28 Weeks, makes several stylistic choices that can make 28 Years Later abrasive to watch. There are occasional shots with low grade, blurry video, perhaps to harken back to 2002's primitive digital cameras, but most of the movie is clear.
Boyle intercuts black and white footage of armies and Boy Scouts marching with Jamie's lessons for Spike. Further montages incorporate color footage of medieval knights defending a castle with bows and arrows.
The entire film is framed wider than the movie screen, but theater screens can't get any wider. So that means the picture actually shrinks to fit the width of the screen, leaving space at the top and bottom.
Since many theaters already project this way, leaving space above and below on the screen, this film will exacerbate that even further. No movie screen in 2025 is as wide as Lawrence of Arabia anymore, so why create an image that no theater can project in full?
None of these techniques enhance the film, and many of them feel like they're daring the viewer to keep watching.
The latter is consistent with Boyle's filmography. Such techniques can be brilliant in Trainspotting, 127 Hours or Slumdog Millionaire, but not so appealing in The Beach and Sunshine.
Fortunately, the gimmicks calm down once Spike and Isla's journey gets underway, but the story has more boundaries to push before it's done.
After 28 years, the rage infected are now naked and feral, adding to the intimidation factor. Whether a horde or just one infected, their pursuit of Spike and his parents is intense.
Boyle and co-writer Alex Garland make a choice regarding the biology of the infected that is equal parts bold, inappropriate and preposterous. Dr. Kelson offers an explanation that only raises more questions.
Arriving 18 years after the first sequel, 28 Years Later is hardly the definitive last word on the rage virus saga. It does suggest what became of the British societies left behind under quarantine.
28 Years Later provides its share of harrowing encounters with the infected, but seems more interested in using the franchise as a vehicle to try out confrontational techniques. While not all of them work, it is admirable that at least Boyle and Garland are so ambitious they are not afraid to fail sometimes.
Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.
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