28 Years Later: Beautiful, Heartfelt Carnage

Legacy sequels are always a difficult prospect. Often we have seen them turn into a shameless cash grab resting on the nostalgia of the older generation without adding much to the story. 28 Years Later could have easily fallen into this category and provided us with just another generic zombie horror but thankfully with Danny Boyle at the helm once again he has proven that while the world around them falls apart there is still stories of humanity to be told, with a very British way of doing it.

2002 the Rage Virus attacked the UK turning those infected into rage fueled zombie like creatures and robbing them of their humanity. The idea that a zombie was slow and unintelligent was thrown out the window replaced with vicious creatures that hunt down their next victim at speed with an unrelenting blood lust.

Twenty-eight years after the initial outbreak the UK is a quarantined hellscape. The Rage virus was repelled from international borders leaving the UK to suffer in its own demise. Military vessels from various countries patrol her waters making sure that those left alive are unable to leave regardless of their needs. We join a small community of survivors on Holy Island off the northeast coast of England. Barricaded behind a constantly patrolled wall and separated from the mainland by a tidal causeway. The small community live a simple life, growing their own foods and brewing plenty of beer, they keep themselves safe from the unmitigated hordes of infected just beyond their borders.

Central to our story is 12 year old Spike (Alfie Williams), a young kid who has never known a world outside the island community. Not yet a teen, he is forced to grow up quickly in order to prepare himself for the life of challenges he is yet to endure. His first outing into the infected zone for him to kill his first “zombie” is a turning point in this young man’s life. With the words of the town elder “you may leave and return, but know this, if you don’t no one will come looking for you, Spike and his father set off across the causeway. Before the pair lays their once great homeland now nothing more than rotting towns nature is slowly starting to consume with the odd smoke rising out of the distance the only other sign that life may still be out there. His father Jamie’s (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) plan for a character-building father-son outing is marred when they are set upon by a group of “the fast ones” and a domineering figure on the horizon of an Alpha. The Rage virus having mutated within the alphas caused them to grow to a frightening size, move like the runners and yet they retain some of their humanly intelligence creating some truly horrifying chase moments.

Boyle reaches into his experience to bring us stylized set pieces that harken back to the original. Black and white footage from past wars are inserted at random accompanied by a disturbing voice over building tension yet highlighting the path the survivors need to take in order to continue surviving. Moments of fear are intensified by fast, often jarring camera movements that at times look like they were shot on a 20-year-old handy cam. His ability to get you into the path of the oncoming threat heightens an already quickened heart rate only for the next scene to bring you crashing back to earth and walking through overgrown rapeseed fields. The cinematography is disorientating and yet hauntingly beautiful providing a sense of dread causing you to creep closer to the edge of your seat in anticipation for what is next.

28 Years Later takes a tonal shift in its second half once Spike hears of the possibility of a doctor still being alive on the mainland and not too far from their home. Spike’s mother Isla (Jodie Comer) is sick and getting worse. She is slowly unravelling, and no one is able to offer a solution within the community. Unable to sit by and watch someone he loves fade into oblivion, and against better judgment, Spike breaks every rule he has ever known and takes his ailing mother to the mainland in the hope of finding the doctor and a solution. It is in these moments that the film surprised me the most with genuine heart and soul amongst the pillars of bones reaching towards the heavens around us.

28 Years Later feels like a fever dream at times, and leaves a few questions unanswered. The over-the-top horror moments step to the side momentarily only to come crashing back in a flurry of screams and gnashing teeth. Its story of family, heart ache and ones own sense of duty elevates this horror to the heights of the original and beyond. Fans know what to expect and will fall in love with the world all over again, those new to the franchise may find some of the imagery and style jarring but will never be able to say they were bored.

28 Years Later is one to be experienced on the big screen with friends and is out in cinemas now.