’28 Years Later’ Review: A Tender, Thoughtful, and Strangely Moving Sequel to One of the Scariest Zombie Movies Ever

If each zombie movies are implicitly astir nan dilemma of surviving pinch death, fewer person ever arrived astatine a much practical, elegant, aliases damningly acquainted solution than Danny Boyle’s “28 Days Later,” which reveals that nan British mainland has been quarantined successful bid to incorporate nan “Rage” microorganism that has turned astir of nan island’s organization into fleet-footed monsters. How convenient it must person been for nan remainder of nan world that hellhole connected Earth could beryllium truthful neatly compartmentalized. 

That item — undone by nan extremity of Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s misbegotten “28 Weeks Later” successful 2007, but retconned backmost into spot pinch nan opening matter of nan caller sequel that Boyle has been itching to make ever since — is emblematic of a scuzzy post-9/11 masterpiece that continues to linger successful nan nationalist imagination because of really nakedly it depicts nan savagery that undergirds our civilization. Not conscionable nan anger that Western nine foments against itself, but besides nan fragility of a type whose individual small heart for self-preservation has ever been nan top threat to its corporate survival. Our loved ones unrecorded everlastingly successful our thoughts and prayers, while nan faceless hordes being slaughtered successful immoderate different state mightiness arsenic good person ne'er lived astatine all. As a definite mass-murderer is thought to person said: “One decease is simply a tragedy, a cardinal is simply a statistic.” 

Zombie movies are scary because they render nan friendly truthful impersonal that we person to admit there’s nary quality betwixt them, and “28 Days Later” is possibly nan scariest of them each because its zombies — who succumb to infection almost arsenic accelerated arsenic they tally — make it each but intolerable to flight that fact. The brilliant of Boyle’s unusual but satisfying “28 Years Later” is that it sprints toward that aforesaid thought successful hunt of salvation. Wildly unexpected for a film that’s been promised for truthful agelong (even if its atheistic bent and penchant for immense communicative swings are nan classical hallmarks of a collaboration betwixt Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland), this tense and tender post-apocalyptic play contends that to beryllium successful denial of decease is to corrupt nan integrity of life itself. 

More fraught than frightening, “28 Years Later” is afloat of each nan jolts and gore you would expect from a large workplace scary movie, but nan world has changed a batch successful nan decades since nan Rage microorganism dispersed crossed England — excessively overmuch for this sequel to get distant pinch replicate nan aforesaid lo-fi dread of its root material, nan panic of which was inextricable from nan immediacy of its crisis. Rabid group still title astatine nan surface arsenic if they’re going to chew a spread correct done it, and nan film’s prologue, successful which a room afloat of children are feasted upon arsenic they watch “Teletubbies,” is sick capable to guidelines alongside nan queasiest moments from nan original. And yet Boyle is smart and/or creatively restless capable to admit that accelerated zombies don’t person nan aforesaid footwear they did backmost successful 2022, and nan remainder of nan opening series is changeable pinch nan “been there, chewed that” complacency of a movie that’s eager to move onto different — calmer — things. 

Namely: nan isolationist organization that forms connected Holy Island successful nan aftermath of nan outbreak. They’ve been location for almost 30 years by nan clip we laic eyes connected nan Northumberland haven (real-life population: 180), and — connected to nan mainland by a causeway that’s only crossable astatine debased tide — person lived safely capable to found their ain societal bid and customs. The islanders don’t person to attraction what’s happening successful nan world beyond England’s borders (the quarantine boats that circle nan country, eager to exterminate anyone who tries to escape, are capable to make judge of that), and nan luxury of solipsism almost seems worthy nan waste and acquisition of surviving without powerfulness aliases resources. 

As acold arsenic 12-year-old Spike is concerned, location are only 2 things that matter successful this world: becoming a big, reliable scavenger man for illustration his father, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), and doing what he tin to thief his sick mother, Isla (Jodie Comer). We meet nan lad connected nan time of his first excursion to nan mainland, and Spike’s coming-of-age ritual — chaperoned by his dada — is steeped successful capable ceremonial to confuse this sequel for immoderate 1 of post-apocalyptic YA dramas released since “28 Days Later.” (It’s besides peppered pinch footage of aged British warfare movies, arsenic if to orient this communicative successful a nationalist history of assemblage militarism.) 

The rite of transition is much perilous than anticipated, arsenic Spike and Jamie brushwood respective different varieties of infected (rotund “Slow-Lows” and huge-dicked “Alphas” now subordinate nan classical runners, whose apparel person each rotted away), but he’s little impressed by nan zombies than he is by nan vastness of nan world they inhabit. Fields! Forests! A curious, ever-burning occurrence that’s kept aflame by a erstwhile expert truthful demented that moreover Spike’s dada is excessively frightened to spell adjacent him! There’s a batch to observe beyond nan shores of Holy Island, including — Spike imagines — a cure for his mother’s headaches, nosebleeds, and cognitive impairment. Frustrated that his dada seems to person fixed up connected her, and conditioned to judge that protecting your ain astatine immoderate costs is nan only valid look of masculinity, Spike loads a fewer arrows successful his quiver and sneaks backmost to nan mainland pinch his mom successful tow. His plan: find that crazy expert and dream for nan best.

’28 Years Later’

If nan past 2 acts of “28 Years Later” lucifer nan erstwhile movie much than its first enactment does (i.e., they attraction connected susceptible group trying not to get chewed to bits arsenic they move done nan British countryside), immoderate tonal continuity location is betwixt “Days” and “Years” is mostly expressed done Anthony Dod Mantle’s hyper-anamorphic iPhone cinematography, which subtly iterates connected nan Canon XL1 camera he utilized for nan original successful bid to onslaught a fitting equilibrium betwixt nan ugliness of societal illness and nan beauty of restoring order. Colors popular pinch splendid promise, but nan earthy indifference of nan earthy world remains. Boyle calls further attraction to nan film’s artistic by fetishizing nan zombie termination shots pinch “a poor-man’s bullet-time,” which emphasizes nan coolness of each arrow to nan cervix astatine nan aforesaid clip arsenic nan communicative originates to propose that nan infected mightiness not beryllium rather arsenic mindless arsenic they seem. 

What nan attack sacrifices successful scares, it soon originates to dress up for successful that other, weirder benignant of tension. Indeed, and pinch much earnest grace than immoderate films person tried to humanize zombies before, “28 Years Later” is progressively preoccupied pinch nan thought that nan quality betwixt “us” and “them” is only a matter of perspective. Honestly, I cringed astatine nan movie’s first indications that it was going to research really nan infected person evolved (so boring, truthful acold removed from nan primitivism of nan original), but Garland’s book iterates connected that conception successful specified extremist and unexpected ways that I couldn’t thief but surrender to its potential. 

The concealed is that Spike’s know-nothing naivete encourages america to spot nan world done nan eyes of personification who’s caller to each portion of it. Boyle has ever had a knack for eliciting reliable kid performances, and first-time character Alfie Williams does a superb occupation of threading nan needle betwixt nan fearlessness of a kid who steps into a zombie-infested nightmare, and nan beatified panic of a boy who can’t unrecorded pinch nan thought of losing his mom. 

For her part, Comer is fantabulous successful a domiciled that yet requires her to do much than conscionable sweat a batch and look benignant of lost, and while Isla’s inclination to confuse Spike for her ain precocious begetter plays a spot excessively overmuch for illustration movie dementia astatine first, nan payoffs it inspires — including Spike’s mixed feelings astatine being mistaken for a man, which is itself a conflation betwixt nan surviving and nan dormant — are rewarding capable to forgive this movie for galore of nan corners it cuts during nan first 30 minutes. And possibly besides for nan truth that it intelligibly ends pinch different 100 minutes to go, arsenic “28 Years Later” is very overmuch conscionable nan first portion of a communicative that will proceed pinch Nia DaCosta’s “The Bone Temple” adjacent year.

For personification who’s been raised successful nan protector of a zombie apocalypse, Spike has ever lived successful nan absence of death. While a fistful of crosses person been dug into a spot of writer connected nan colony outskirts, decease is thing that happens connected nan acold broadside of nan causeway. Over there. Separated from nan world Spike knows by a bladed portion of onshore that’s not moreover traversable for half of nan day. There are ghosts connected Holy Island, but nary doctors; erstwhile group vanish connected nan mainland, nan organization is forbidden from rescuing them. But death, Spike comes to discover, has a life of its own, and his only dream of redeeming his mother will hinge connected nan dawning nickname that retired of show doesn’t person to beryllium nan aforesaid point arsenic retired of mind. 

That nickname takes style crossed nan film’s meditative and downbeat last chapter, which is conscionable arsenic melodramatic a alteration of gait arsenic nan original film’s 3rd enactment pivot toward militarism and intersexual slavery. Anchored by a beautiful — and funny — turn from Ralph Fiennes, whose return connected Dr. Kelson is adjacent parts Colonel Kurtz and Albus Dumbledore (“The magic of nan placenta!” is an instant classical statement delivery), nan amazingly affectional past agelong of “28 Years Later” backgrounds Spike’s attempts astatine avoiding decease successful bid to foreground his request to reckon pinch it. 

Memento mori: When nan reality of decease is forgotten, nan worth of life follows soon down it. The world whitethorn person near England to rot (a subplot involving a overseas worker implies that different nations person taken an progressive liking successful helping that process along), but immoderate nine that allows an full state to go an open-air graveyard is sick pinch a unspeakable microorganism of its own. While Boyle isn’t lofty capable to propose that nan infected are beautiful creatures who merit God’s emotion aliases immoderate (this is still a movie astir wild-eyed naked zombies, aft all, and its empathy for them only goes truthful far), “28 Years Later” efficaciously uses nan tropes of its genre to insist that nan statement betwixt a calamity and a statistic is thinner than we think, and much permeable than we realize. The magic of nan placenta, indeed. 

Grade: B+

Sony Pictures Releasing will merchandise “28 Years Later” successful theaters connected Friday, June 20.

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