The 28 Days Later franchise depicts an epidemic of a rabies variant that transforms humans into extremely violent zombie-like beings.
The first entry sees Jim awaken from a coma in a deserted London, discovering the catastrophe and narrowly escaping death in an overrun church.
There is a debate that this is the inspiration for The Walking Dead comic book and tv show.
He then meets other survivors who explain the living conditions in this new world.
Together, they confront not only the infected but also the brutality of other humans, who in apocalyptic movies are often the worst possible monsters.
The infected eventually die of starvation, while the fate of Jim and his companions is left hanging.
Five years later, 28 Weeks Later shows an attempt to establish a quarantine zone in London, managed by the US military. Our protagonists then trigger a second wave of massive infection following some highly questionable decisions. A new chaos overwhelms the military forces, and the virus then spreads far beyond British borders, promising global contamination, starting with Paris.
The first installment is a little gem, endlessly rewatchable. The second has a fabulous opening scene that stays with you long after the film ends, but unfortunately, the characters and story are too flat to be considered truly good.
And that’s where 28 years later comes in.
This third film is intended to be the starting point of a new trilogy, promising to further develop this post-apocalyptic universe.
A brilliant start : honoring the 28 days later legacy
The first part follows a child who is caught in the crossfire of a violent attack on his family.
He takes refuge in a church, which is also besieged by the infected, the priest seeming to welcome them as he gets killed . It is once again brilliant, and a great nod to the original.
One thing we can’t take away from those movies is their talent to produce a great opening.
We then jump to a group of survivors on a small island off the coast of Scotland, connected to the mainland only by low tide. Although life seems to have returned to normal in the past 28 years, the entire United Kingdom is under strict quarantine. We can see the premise that suggests that the island isn’t quite the preserved paradise it seems to be.
It could be ruled by a cult, with masks, for which no explanation is ever provided in this entry.
Evolution of the infected : The Last of Us vibes?
The film ultimately follows the father-son duo as they embark on their first hunt together.
We discover the mainland and witness the evolution of the infected over the years, on a similar basis to The Last of Us. There are those who crawl, feed on worms, and pose no direct threat, those in a state of desiccation who move relatively slowly, those for whom the rage virus is still very active, and the alphas, who are more or less zombies on steroids.
Although in 28 years one might expect the infected’s clothing to have disintegrated, this installment chose to emphasize filming them naked with zoom-ins… which is a choice.
Not a good choice, but a choice nonetheless.
Get the blouse ready, we’re going to the doctor
Without getting into more details, the father/son duo return to the mother in a world where her illness is unknown, because the last doctors are supposedly all dead.
And that’s where the story takes a complete turn.
28 years later becomes a boring episode of House M.D. Spoiler : it isn’t lupus.
From idiotic decisions to bizarre encounters, the movie loses a great deal of its zombie aspect to focus on the human element. I understand the theme of Spike, the son, having to learn to live with death in its various forms, but the momentum gained from the dangers of going to the mainland is erased and crushed by learning what it means to accept death. Between close-ups of d*cks and a zombie birth, the film’s tone is everywhere all at once.
After finally finding a doctor who eases his mother’s pain, Spike decides to leave the uninfected baby on the island and go back to the risky mainland, which he knows virtually nothing about.
The Savile controversy
And that’s when we literally enter “what the fuck” territory.
A gang of Jimmy Savile lookalikes performs Power Rangers-style acrobatics while killing zombies.
The last 10 minutes of the movie effectively highlight the fact that the world has stopped.
It’s assumed that the leader must be Jimmy, the little blond boy from the opening, and that he must have idolized Jimmy Savile back then, who was seen as a “saint” at the time…
And then end credits.
It’s a very strange choice for us in 2025 onward, knowing that he was one of the worst people ever, given the heinous acts he committed. Putting a highling on him feels like glorifying Epstein knowing what he did, when their names should just have died with them. But that’s just my opinion.
And it leaves so many questions unanswered.
It’s the apocalypse, where do they find endless stocks of blond wigs and velour tracksuits? Hahaha
What now ?
28 Years Later follows its predecessors’ footsteps and splits the film into several parts, but unfortunately, they aren’t of equal quality, so the result derails the overall enjoyment.
Unlike the purposeful discomfort in Barbarian, the nudity in 28 Years Later feels misplaced and distracting.
I’m truly apprehensive about what the future of this trilogy.
My rating: 2/5 bats
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