Movie Review: 28 Years Later (2025)
When Danny Boyle and Alex Garland said they were returning to the universe they birthed with 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later, horror fans didn’t just raise their eyebrows — they nearly tore their faces off in excitement. And rightly so. 28 Years Later isn’t just a long-awaited sequel. It’s a genre-defining, nerve-shredding, emotionally gutting return to form. This is not your average zombie flick. It’s a rage-soaked symphony of survival, evolution, and existential dread.
Set nearly three decades after the original outbreak, the United Kingdom has become a quarantined husk of itself — cut off from the rest of the world, dismissed as a radioactive footnote to a pandemic that never quite died. Outside the border, the world has moved on. Inside? It’s a ghost story still being written.
In the middle of it all is Isla, played with ferocious tenderness by Jodie Comer, and her son Spike — a boy born into ruin, played brilliantly by newcomer Alfie Williams. Their bond carries the emotional weight of the story as they navigate the dead cities and infected backlands. When circumstances force them out of hiding, their journey across the ravaged landscape reveals just how little they understand about what the virus has become — and what humanity has turned into without the world watching.
And yes, the virus has changed. The infected are faster, yes, but they’re smarter too. We get terrifying new variants — the Alphas, who exhibit signs of coordination and tactical movement, and the Slow-Lows, silent infected who appear dormant… until they don’t. It adds a new layer of unpredictability that cranks the tension through the roof. Every quiet moment is a potential explosion. Every shadow could be the end.
Boyle’s directing is as sharp and visceral as ever. He once again leans into handheld chaos and natural light, this time incorporating high-tech visuals shot partially on enhanced iPhones. It feels urgent, unfiltered, and deeply claustrophobic. There are moments so immersive you forget to breathe. The visual grime, paired with a bone-rattling soundscape, makes the whole film feel like it’s actively hunting you.
Then there’s Ralph Fiennes, who slips into the role of Dr. Ian Kelson with unnerving ease. He’s the intellectual heart of the film — or maybe its cold, rotting brain. It’s hard to tell. He speaks in riddles, questions morality, and forces the audience to reckon with uncomfortable truths about containment, control, and sacrifice. Is he right? Is he a madman? That depends on how long you’ve been staring into the void.
But what elevates 28 Years Later above your standard gore-fest is its humanity. The film never loses sight of the people amidst the panic. Whether it’s a found piano in an abandoned pub, or a desperate bedtime story whispered in the dark, the film gives you just enough beauty to make the horror hit harder. It’s emotional warfare, plain and simple.
The third act is pure Boyle chaos — adrenaline, dread, revelation. Without spoiling it, the final twist hits hard and opens the floodgates for the next chapter, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, already slated for January 2026. If this film is the spark, that one’s promising to be the wildfire.
28 Years Later isn’t just a good sequel — it’s a phenomenal evolution. It honors the DNA of what came before while pushing the story into bolder, braver, bleaker places. It’s a masterclass in horror, drama, and dystopian storytelling that proves sometimes the most terrifying monsters aren’t the infected — they’re the choices we make when we think no one’s watching.
★★★★½ (4.5 out of 5 stars)