28 Years Later

28 Years Later Movie Review Rating:

Star Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, Jack O’Connell, Alfie Williams, and Ralph Fiennes

Director: Danny Boyle

What’s Good: The sense of danger is as oppressive as the depressive atmosphere, making the film feel like a true post-apocalyptic movie. Everything is out to get you.

What’s Bad: The trailer might have deceived some people, as there is very little action, and the ending, while intriguing, definitely feels like a bad case of sequel baiting.

Loo Break: 28 Years Later is lean and mean, so there are no spaces to go to the loo; you won’t want to.

Watch or Not?: This is one of the best zombie films in who knows how many years, and a great film overall, even if it tells only one-third of the story.

Language: English (with subtitles).

Available On: Theaters

Runtime: 116 Minutes.

User Rating:

Opening:

More than 20 years ago, Danny Boyle and Alex Garland joined forces to create 28 Days Later, an unexpected hit coming from the UK with a powerful sense of vision, political commentary, and also evolving the zombies as creatures in the most menacing of ways. Now, the first film is heralded as a classic of horror cinema, and the sequel is also pretty solid. But Boyle and Garland have the secret sauce, and they deliver it here with a film that is dark and truly terrifying.

28 Years Later Movie Review: Script Analysis

Both Danny Boyle and Alex Garland have come a long way since 28 Days Later, with Boyle becoming an Oscar-winning filmmaker and Garland jumping into directing some of the most daring and challenging films of the last decade. Therefore, having them back together after so long on a project feels just right, and the result is definitely a film that shows both filmmakers at their best, but also in the way they have developed themselves since their previous collaborations.

Boyle has managed to stay somewhat relevant in the filmmaking space with a couple of crowd-pleasers, but also some films that haven’t really worked out in the way they were supposed to, and so 28 Years Later feels like a search for redemption, which is a theme that is very prominent in the film. How, if there is a way, can we find our better selves in the midst of the worst situations. It is a compelling theme that flows very well through the film and allows the filmmaker to go as dark as possible, putting the characters through the ringer.

On the other hand, Garland has developed a very particular directorial style that goes more for intellectual satisfaction than emotional, and tries to give more space to ideas than plotlines. The style Garland has developed definitely shows here, with characters philosophizing about their situation in ways that characters from previous entries would never do. At times, it does feel a bit overdramatic, but by the end, the tone just clicks, and you will definitely feel like the filmmakers just did it right when it comes to depicting this post-apocalyptic world through characters and situations.

In fact, many parts of the film feel very much like what The Last of Us TV series should have been. That show, adapted from the video game, never managed to create a sense of danger in the world where the characters live, which was a vital element of the video game, making the show feel too soft. However, 28 Years Later goes exactly where The Last of Us TV series should have gone, and does it in the best possible way, introducing a world where everything wants to kill you, and characters that are both expected and unexpected in this kind of scenario.

28 Years Later Movie Review: Star Performance

The casting is another strong point for the film, as it is incredibly solid and even introduces a couple of new talents that are worth watching in the future. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who has been the poster face for the film, does well. Although his role is more minor than most people think, he does well as the classic father-figure character who will do anything to protect his family. Jodie Comer also does really well in a role that feels subdued yet takes advantage of her acting skills.

However, two other actors are the ones who really stand out in the film, basically stealing the movie from all other characters. One of them is newcomer Alfie Williams, who is basically the film’s protagonist and does good at delivering the right emotions and projecting great physicality in his action scenes. He is truly a talent worth keeping an eye on. The other one is Ralph Fiennes, one of the greats, who, as usual, delivers a fantastic performance and creates one of the best characters seen in a zombie movie.