Movie review: Danny Boyle's ‘28 Years Later' redefines the zombie genre anew

Tatler Asia

09-07-2025

Above We're introduced to Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his son Spike (Alfie Williams)
Here, civilisation has adapted in curious ways. Education has shifted from algebra and history to archery, surveillance duty at the watch tower and foraging. We're introduced to Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his son Spike (Alfie Williams) on what the father dubs the boy's 'big day': his first time outside the camp. Spike is only 12—two years shy of the island's mandated age for venturing beyond the barricades—but Jamie, with defiant parental pride, defies the rules. He even gifts his son a rare strip of bacon, a delicacy in this world.
Jodie Comer delivers a sharp, brittle performance as Isla, Spike's mother, who is suffering from a mysterious sickness that's left her increasingly disoriented. She opposes the mission with ferocity, at one point branding her husband a 'child murderer' for dragging their son into danger. Yet the boy, deeply devoted to his ailing mother, lies and says he is just going to school. He also tucks away the prized bacon to give to her later.
Outside the safety of their community, Spike begins to grasp the brutal reality beyond their island: betrayal, cruelty and unspeakable violence, often perpetrated by the living rather than the undead. The infected themselves have changed, too. Boyle offers up a grotesque variety—some feral and unclothed, others bloated, some crawling on all fours, feeding on worms. It's not just a new generation of zombies; it's an evolution.
Spike's first venture beyond their fortress mirrors the audience's own experience, as we too are seeing for the first time what has become of Boyle's world years after the last outbreak.
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Above Spike's first venture beyond their fortress mirrors the audience's own experience
Enter the 'Alpha': a towering figure who decapitates his prey. This new leader of the infected is not only powerful but calculating, a stark departure from the mindless mobs of previous instalments. His behaviour suggests strategic awareness, including the ability to navigate the tides and pursue prey back to the island.
Amongst these discoveries, Spike glimpses a distant campfire and inquires after its owner. Jamie tells him it belongs to a doctor, a figure who may hold the key to his mother's recovery. The revelation plants a seed in the boy's mind.
Above Unlike its predecessors, '28 Years Later' is not content to be merely a horror film.
Back on the island, their return is marked by a celebratory feast. But tension simmers when Spike catches his father with another woman. The next morning, they clash, with the latter accusing his father of withholding the doctor's whereabouts to preserve his newfound relationship.
Fuelled by heartbreak and resolve, Spike takes drastic action. He distracts the guards, evades the watchtower and leads his confused mother off the island, determined to seek the estranged doctor himself.
Their escape leads them to a gasoline station shrouded in toxic fumes, where they're rescued by Erik (Edvin Ryding), a Navy officer stationed in the region. From here, the narrative takes a slight tonal detour, drifting into light-hearted exchanges between Erik—who casually references WiFi access and flashes a working smartphone—and Spike, who is utterly bewildered by such foreign concepts.
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Above Erik (Edvin Ryding), a Navy officer
The humour gives the film some breathing room, offering the occasional laugh, but at times feels like it's cutting through the tension rather than complementing it. For a while, it's genuinely fun, but the tone starts to wobble, and things begin to feel a little disjointed.
One moment, in particular, stands out for all the wrong reasons. Erik shows Spike a photo of his girlfriend, only for the script to mock her appearance, hinting at cosmetic surgery with a not-so-subtle jab. It's meant to be a joke, but instead comes off as oddly mean-spirited, especially when directed at a woman.
Later on, Erik joins Spike and Isla on their journey, travelling through an abandoned train carriage. It's here that things take a darker turn. Isla spots a female infected who appears to be in labour.
Tensions flare when Erik demands the baby be abandoned, convinced it's also carrying the virus. The shouting attracts the Alpha, who bursts in and, in a shockingly swift moment, decapitates Erik. What follows is a frantic chase, with Isla, Spike and the newborn fleeing through the wreckage.
Just when all hope seems lost, the mysterious doctor finally makes his appearance. He's covered in iodine—apparently the virus can't stand the stuff—and manages to tranquilise the Alpha just in time. 'Memento Mori'
Above Dr Ian Kelson honours the dead in '28 Years Later'
Above Dr Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) in '28 Years Later'
Dr Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) offers a warm and comforting presence amid the film. Upon examining the newborn—uninfected despite being born of the infected—he theorises that the infected mother's placenta may have acted as a barrier, shielding the infant from the virus. It offers a flicker of hope for a potential cure in the future instalments. Much like The Last of Us , where Ellie's immunity is traced back to the circumstances of her birth, this subtle nod to scientific possibility adds a layer of intrigue.
Back at his camp, Dr Kelson performs a solemn ritual. He cremates Erik's body, but not before salvaging the skull. The fires that have long burned in the distance are not fuelled by destruction, but by reverence. The doctor collects skulls—infected or not—as a way of honouring those lost.
Here, he speaks to Spike about the philosophy of memento mori —'remember that you must die,' a reminder that mortality, far from diminishing life's value, gives it weight and urgency. It's a moment of unexpected stillness, deepened by the revelation that Isla is terminally ill, her mind failing due to a cancerous brain tumour.
Above Dr Ian Kelson, Isla with the baby and Spike
Above Jodie Comer delivers a sharp, brittle performance as Isla, Spike's mother, who is suffering from a mysterious sickness that's left her increasingly disoriented.
Overwhelmed by grief and helplessness, Spike lashes out, unable to accept that nothing more can be done. Kelson sedates him, gently guiding the boy into a dreamlike flashback of better times: he and his mother, together and embracing. The doctor whispers a quiet counterpoint— memento vivere —'remember to live.' It's a moment that lands with emotional heft, a tender reminder that love and memory endure, even as life fades.
Kelson later euthanises Isla and adds her skull to his growing shrine. He invites Spike to choose her resting place. The boy places it atop the skeletal tree, where it faces the morning light.
In the film's closing moments, Spike returns to the settlement alone, carrying the newborn child. In a handwritten note, he reveals the infant's origin. He asks that she be named 'Isla,' in tribute to the mother he lost, and the hope that may yet survive her.
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Above Tension builds in Danny Boyle's '28 Years later'
It's almost impossible not to hold this third instalment up against its lauded forerunners. Unlike its predecessors, 28 Years Later is not content to be merely a horror film. There are philosophical undercurrents, moments of lyrical tenderness and yes, awkward attempts at humour.
Boyle's return to the franchise offers a bold but bumpy comeback…depending on your appetite for 'genre-bending'. The infected have evolved, no longer the mindless aggressors we once knew. These creatures display social organisation and even hygiene. They bathe, breed and have begun constructing a primitive society.
What made the zombie genre so darkly entertaining in the first place was its moral simplicity—you killed the infected without a second thought. Those guilt-free, head-smashing thrills are gone. Instead, the film quietly challenges our appetite for violent spectacle.
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Above The zombies are seemingly sentient in '28 Years Later'
The cinematography is starkly beautiful, the performances are firmly grounded and the soundtrack fits each scene perfectly. Yet, there's a nagging feeling that something crucial has slipped through the cracks. The raw terror, the primal adrenaline rush, the straightforward satisfaction of a well-timed zombie kill.
The film could have also done more with its setting, which too often drifts into sprawling forests that take up nearly 60 per cent of the screen time, rather than embracing the gritty post-apocalyptic feel fans might expect.
The introduction of an 'Alpha' who is eerily intelligent and disturbingly human forces viewers into an unexpected moral dilemma, yet it holds the promise of reshaping the zombie genre for another 20 years. The question is, is it still entertainment when the undead become sentient?
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Images: Columbia Pictures