28 Years Later (2025) Review

“Memento Amoris”

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

The 28 Days Later franchise is indeed one that is so well documented of unconventional zombie lore. With time spanning so fast after Weeks, it would have been hard for audiences to maintain an interest for Months. I honestly was hoping writer Alex Garland would get it done sooner following his success as a director, but of course you know art is better not to be rushed. Which is why 28 Years Later was the ultimate solution in continuing to show how impactful an outbreak can be.


PLOT


The 2025 film takes place in the titular timeline following the resurgence of the rage virus. It has been eradicated from continental Europe and the British Isles remain under indefinite quarantine with few survivors. There is at least one community subsisted on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, defended from Great Britain by a causeway. Among the community is a scavenger named Jamie, married to Isla who is suffering from a debilitating illness and they share a son, Spike. The story follows Jamie take his son on a hunting ritual to start his maturity. He does get his experience in killing other infected, as well as hide from many led by an evolved alpha that takes more than one arrow to kill. When briefly hiding in the attic of an old cottage, Spike sees a quarantine patrol boat and a fire further inland. He asks his dad of the latter, but he ignores it especially when they rush back home and the infected that follows get struck down with a ballista. The village celebrates Spike's first kill with a party, but the boy's happiness officially vanishes when he spots his dad hooking up with the schoolteacher Rosey (Amy Cameron). He later talks to a family friend named Sam (Christopher Fulford) of the fire he saw. He suspects it to be an exiled GP, Doctor Ian Kelson. The next morning, he calls out Jamie of not caring out Isla enough and that he lied of there still being a doctor. His dad defends himself over the latter because he recounts seeing him burn many corpses en masse, unclear if they were infected or not, deeming him too unstable to help. Unconvinced of this, Spike still sneaks out with his mom and journey to mainland Britain, hoping to find the doctor. They protect each other from other infected, but they get backup from Swedish Navy seaman Erik Sundvqist (Edvin Ryding), a sole survivor of a stranded NATO quarantine patrol boat. As they move together, Isla finds an infected female pregnant and helps her give birth; it is born a babygirl that has no symptoms of the virus. When the female lunges, Erik rightfully shoots it down and considers shooting the baby too until being decapitated by the alpha. It chases down the mother-son pair until being stopped by Kelson himself, who slows him down with a morphine-xylazine dart. He takes the two and the baby to his camp that is a monument of bones. Shortly after placing Erik's skull as of part of it respectfully, Spike asks for his help in diagnosing his mom. With the medical practice he remembers, he narrows it down that she is suffering from advanced terminal cancer that she couldn't have confirmed herself. Kelson would take the time to console the boy before euthanizing his mom and give him her skull after cremation, where he would place at the top of the monument. The same alpha would return, which Kelson calls 'Samson', but Spike would use another dart rather than kill him. Kelson encourages him to go home and instead, he drops off the baby with a letter to Jamie that he's not ready to come back. Jamie reads the note that he named the baby after Isla, leaving him heartbroken of what's happened. Another 28 days later, the film ends with Spike meeting Jimmy Crystal who leads his own group of survivors and rescue him against a pack of the infected. 


THOUGHTS


I always knew another entry to this franchise would work as long as they used Garland’s excellent words of a script he can always craft, but the big selling point for me was Danny Boyle returning to direct. Off of that, the rest would feel like history because this was a superb sequel compared to Weeks Later because there’s something so vulnerably raw throughout that leaves you hooked from start to finish. The fact that Anthony Dod Mantle pulled off fantastic cinematography with smartphones and drones to capture the claustrophobic atmosphere that can occur in such an apocalypse. And the production design does great too in reflecting how decayed the remains of Great Britain are, but the Holy Island has so much life despite the isolation. We can talk about how there is a small list of zombie performers that can be iconic in the horror medium and it’s crazy to pick up Samson is already getting there before the completion of this story arc. Chi Lewis-Parry succeeded in being full of constant intensity you have to expect from such violent creatures that live up to the virus’ name. The makeup on him and the other infected are subpar in being as grotesque you’re aware from the subgenre and each infected delivers in following through of constant dread as well. And the fact an immune baby can be born from too has potential to spark hope in ending the virus, but I won’t have them too high since we lost our one asymptomatic carrier in Weeks. The score by Young Fathers was sure well made too for establishing how unpredictable things can get. The main reason I’ve been able to prefer this over Weeks is because it has a moving message that says we need to get remain compassionate for the fallen and look forward when the past is deemed too good to be true. If you want things to go back the way they were, you have to take that action. And if you want to be grateful of the life you have, show respect to those who had it worse because you too would want the same approach should it be you on the opposite side. This is what Ralph Fiennes gives an incredible representation about as Kelson because he chooses to cherish all life rather than discriminate. This does explain his decision to spare the infected, while still playing it safe by covering himself in iodine which fights off the virus. His humanism is so profound that he’ll share Latin phrases to teach Spike to accept the inevitable on how life ends. He did the right thing darting the boy because he didn’t want to fight him over something that couldn’t be avoided. While I’d like to believe there’d be better chances to save Isla should they have better resources, but finding a way off the island would still be a challenge of its own. He even does the right thing telling him to go home knowing it’d save the baby as much as it would save him. Enter Alfie Williams who gives a great breakout performance as Spike. He’s the ideal boy who wants to figure himself out with what’s around him and all he cares about is looking out for everyone before he can focus on himself. His mom went the world to him and since his dad gave up, he bravely took matters into his own hands before given a rough reality check there will be things past his control. While we can say Aaron Taylor Johnson made an ideal dad out of Jamie since he succeeded in getting his son out of his comfort zone so he can be on top of himself, he failed as a husband to Isla since he comes off compromised that there is nothing he can do and doesn’t bother looking for someone that could. He definitely like the fact his son called him out on his flaws, but he sure respected that he stuck up for himself. If he really wants to prove his unconditional love, the best he can do is go after him or look after the baby. Before Kelson, the only other person that taught the boy to be true to himself was his mom. Jodie Comer was tragically sweet as Isla because while still loving, you frown over how mentally lost she is and you too wish she can get better until the truth is accepted. That makes her death all the more sadder, yet it becomes beautiful of a sendoff when her skull is placed at the top of the monument, solidifying how much she meant to her son. While I’m sure Spike can stay true to his morals as he gets older but if Jack O’Connell is gonna be so imposing with charisma as Jimmy, as shown at the very end, you know for sure said morals are gonna be tested in The Bone Temple. This movie will remain fascinating in so many levels, but there are still some things that confused me upon rewatching. For instance, the opening is so intense due to noticing how Jimmy’s parents were on opposing beliefs of the outbreak since his mom was trying so hard to believe, whereas his minister accepted it as the legit end times, but how have they not talked it out within the original 28 days? I mean that’s just hard for me to grasp since they had a whole group to look after, so the counter argument should’ve had a stronger toll on him before being intentionally exposed to the virus. Moving on, it’s harder to believe that no one bothered trying to understand any medical practice if they didn’t want to be in touch with Kelson. If they want to have a fighting chance at fighting illnesses, they should’ve looked for books out in Great Britain. And if Jamie thought Kelson was crazy, he should’ve told Spike sooner to better accept Isla wasn’t gonna recover. Then I wonder, did anyone else know before Spike that Jamie was hooking up with Rosy or did they ignore it to the point of not telling the boy? Either or is just crazy of a situation for a small community. Also, have the infected ever tried climbing? If alphas like Samson are supposed to be evolved, I’m surprised it hasn’t been tested by them. And if he was staking out the cottage, I’m surprised he didn’t do so with the commune’s gate. While I scratched my head about Spike & Ilsa pausing when they see Samson, I’m more confused on why Jamie hasn’t tried looking for his son sooner for the past 28 days. If he loves his son, he would’ve left already and that tops how the boy hasn’t met Jimmy sooner since he had been marking his territory in multiple areas. Ignore these flaws however, then you’ll still be blown away with the intensely horrific experience that is 28 Years Later. If this is your favorite zombie franchise, it should be a no brainer to see this already.
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