Latest zombie instalment dissects the human condition
28 YEARS LATER
Director: Danny BoyleCast: Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jack O'Connell, Alfie Williams, Ralph FiennesRating: (R16)
★★★★+
REVIEWED BY AMASIO JUTEL
Twenty-eight years after the "rage virus" was liberated from an animal testing lab by eco-terrorists, the British Isles are under strict quarantine. On the mainland, the virus runs rampant, giving birth to an array of new "infecteds". Off the northeast coast of England (Lindisfarne, or "Holy Island"), Spike (Alfie Williams) and his parents, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Isla (Jodie Comer), live in a fenced off survivor community, connected to the mainland via a causeway only accessible at low tide. Armed with bows and arrows, Jamie and Spike cross the causeway for a father-son rite of passage zombie hunt. A casual (and effective) exposition dump lays the Act One stakes bare — in 4 hours, the tide will be too high to return, and they'll be stuck on the mainland; a natural world that takes no prisoners.
Despite the drastic change in iPhone megapixel resolution over 23 years, the 28 visual style remains distinct. Cinematographer of the original film, Anthony Dod Mantle, returns with guerrilla-style, over-the-shoulder shots and canted wides of the father-son duo, a visual metaphor to alienate them from a world where they don't belong — two decades free of humanity's blemish means humans come second. Colourful vistas depict crumbling buildings set in the vast greenery. Striking infrared sequences and freeze-frame bullet-time high-speed pans of explosions of infected blood and guts are staggering, and supplement this gruesome, genre-fare video game logic.
The creature innovation of the film is the "alphas" — head-ripping, spinal cord flail-waving infected, whose exposure to the virus has juiced them up to 12-foot-tall beasts.
Forced to hide under the cover of night, having missed their four-hour window home, Spike and Jamie are taunted by the looming silhouette of an Alpha on the horizon line, twice the size of any infected near it. The menacing threat is actualised in an electrifying foot race across the shin-deep causeway home.
A slightly shocking tonal shift finally marks the main protagonist (masked by the strange billing order that likely is owed to a confirmed sequel), who sets out on a Wizard of Oz-style cross-country journey with a haphazard crew, through a colourful array of set pieces to the remarkable "Bone Temple". A document of the lives that have been, it's undeniably amazing scenery, complete with an eccentric "third act Fiennes" masterclass to go with.
Garland's writing packages themes explored in his own work. His forensic diagnosis of humanity — folk horror and tribalism, the rule of nature and nationalism — marries well with Boyle's humanistic directorial lens, who has an approach to character direction much less subtle, perhaps even brittle, compared to recent Garland projects, Annihilation, Men and Civil War. The film straddles that line between cold diagnosis of the human condition and the viscerality of the horror and humanity in this film, profoundly so.
This is no more resonant than in Spike's first venture across the causeway. Boyle deploys a stern sonic and visual pastiche to a renowned 1915 recording of Rudyard Kipling's Second Boer War poem, Boots . Overlayed with footage from the classic film Henry V , and non-fiction footage of wartime, Boyle harmonises with Garland's thematic endeavour to indicate the splintering society through tribalist strife, harkening back to the act three twist of 28 Days Later .
Garland's interest in folk horror is particularly symbolic, characterising the arbitrary centring power of religion amid conflict. Masks and churches figure prominently; ritual practices denote the in-community and those who are cast out. The communal power of the church on "Holy Island" (literally) opposes the structural integrity of those on the mainland, where they're seen as decrepit and crumbling. The bookends of the film materialise this thematic idea very openly.
28 Years Later is post-post-apocalyptic horror with a deep emotional storyline, exhilarating action, and bombastic film-making, and a tale of the cold-hearted tribalism and polarisation that its writer too often pontificates about in less effective films.
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Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Otago Daily Times
Latest zombie instalment dissects the human condition
28 YEARS LATER Director: Danny BoyleCast: Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jack O'Connell, Alfie Williams, Ralph FiennesRating: (R16) ★★★★+ REVIEWED BY AMASIO JUTEL Twenty-eight years after the "rage virus" was liberated from an animal testing lab by eco-terrorists, the British Isles are under strict quarantine. On the mainland, the virus runs rampant, giving birth to an array of new "infecteds". Off the northeast coast of England (Lindisfarne, or "Holy Island"), Spike (Alfie Williams) and his parents, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Isla (Jodie Comer), live in a fenced off survivor community, connected to the mainland via a causeway only accessible at low tide. Armed with bows and arrows, Jamie and Spike cross the causeway for a father-son rite of passage zombie hunt. A casual (and effective) exposition dump lays the Act One stakes bare — in 4 hours, the tide will be too high to return, and they'll be stuck on the mainland; a natural world that takes no prisoners. Despite the drastic change in iPhone megapixel resolution over 23 years, the 28 visual style remains distinct. Cinematographer of the original film, Anthony Dod Mantle, returns with guerrilla-style, over-the-shoulder shots and canted wides of the father-son duo, a visual metaphor to alienate them from a world where they don't belong — two decades free of humanity's blemish means humans come second. Colourful vistas depict crumbling buildings set in the vast greenery. Striking infrared sequences and freeze-frame bullet-time high-speed pans of explosions of infected blood and guts are staggering, and supplement this gruesome, genre-fare video game logic. The creature innovation of the film is the "alphas" — head-ripping, spinal cord flail-waving infected, whose exposure to the virus has juiced them up to 12-foot-tall beasts. Forced to hide under the cover of night, having missed their four-hour window home, Spike and Jamie are taunted by the looming silhouette of an Alpha on the horizon line, twice the size of any infected near it. The menacing threat is actualised in an electrifying foot race across the shin-deep causeway home. A slightly shocking tonal shift finally marks the main protagonist (masked by the strange billing order that likely is owed to a confirmed sequel), who sets out on a Wizard of Oz-style cross-country journey with a haphazard crew, through a colourful array of set pieces to the remarkable "Bone Temple". A document of the lives that have been, it's undeniably amazing scenery, complete with an eccentric "third act Fiennes" masterclass to go with. Garland's writing packages themes explored in his own work. His forensic diagnosis of humanity — folk horror and tribalism, the rule of nature and nationalism — marries well with Boyle's humanistic directorial lens, who has an approach to character direction much less subtle, perhaps even brittle, compared to recent Garland projects, Annihilation, Men and Civil War. The film straddles that line between cold diagnosis of the human condition and the viscerality of the horror and humanity in this film, profoundly so. This is no more resonant than in Spike's first venture across the causeway. Boyle deploys a stern sonic and visual pastiche to a renowned 1915 recording of Rudyard Kipling's Second Boer War poem, Boots . Overlayed with footage from the classic film Henry V , and non-fiction footage of wartime, Boyle harmonises with Garland's thematic endeavour to indicate the splintering society through tribalist strife, harkening back to the act three twist of 28 Days Later . Garland's interest in folk horror is particularly symbolic, characterising the arbitrary centring power of religion amid conflict. Masks and churches figure prominently; ritual practices denote the in-community and those who are cast out. The communal power of the church on "Holy Island" (literally) opposes the structural integrity of those on the mainland, where they're seen as decrepit and crumbling. The bookends of the film materialise this thematic idea very openly. 28 Years Later is post-post-apocalyptic horror with a deep emotional storyline, exhilarating action, and bombastic film-making, and a tale of the cold-hearted tribalism and polarisation that its writer too often pontificates about in less effective films.
NZ Herald
5 days ago
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Otago Daily Times
12-06-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Study reveals ‘rich tapestry' of cultures
Unlocking the first ancient genomes (aDNA) from Papua New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago has allowed Otago scientists to take a significant step forward in understanding the genetic diversity of the nation and those in the wider Pacific. It has helped bring clarity to the great migration of early Pacific pioneers, considered to be ancestors of many Pacific people, including Māori. Monica Tromp. PHOTO: ODT FILES Research co-author and University of Otago Southern Pacific Archaeological Research project manager Dr Monica Tromp said aDNA acted like "a time machine", revealing how people lived and interacted thousands of years ago, and how those connections still influence our world. By combining aDNA with dietary evidence and linguistics, the study revealed how the pre-colonial coastal communities were surprisingly genetically diverse from each other, and suggested many cultural groups did not intermarry for some time. The research revealed "Pacific Island cultures were far more diverse and complex than we ever imagined". "Rather than being one unified group, these ancient communities represented a rich tapestry of different cultures and peoples." New Guinea was settled more than 50,000 years ago, and served as a launch point for seafaring journeys into the wider Pacific. About 3300 years ago, the Lapita people — considered the earliest ancestors of many Pacific people, including Māori — settled in the Bismarck Archipelago, which became the cradle of the Lapita cultural complex. They were renowned for their intricate pottery and horticultural practices, and embarked on voyages that reached as far as Vanuatu, Tonga and Samoa. Rebecca Kinaston. PHOTO: ODT FILES Until now, the genomic legacy of these early Pacific pioneers had remained unexplored. Dr Tromp said one of the study's most striking findings was the presence of individuals with completely Papuan genetic signatures on the island of Watom, in the Bismarck Archipelago, where missionaries found the first Lapita-style pottery in the early 20th century. The individuals excavated on the island were all younger than evidence for the arrival of the Lapita Cultural Complex. "One of these individuals also displayed a rare case of cultural cranial modification, suggesting the co-occupation of the island by genetically and culturally different groups." Co-lead author and BioArch South director Dr Rebecca Kinaston said despite the co-occupation, it seemed the groups did not mix for a long time. The delay in intermarriage and the presence of people with Papuan ancestry might help answer a long-held question about whether the first settlers in the remote islands of Western Remote Oceania arrived unmixed, and mixed on the islands. The new findings supported the scenario. "Their ancestries started diverging 650 years ago, despite the absence of geographical borders."
