28 Years Later and the prequel arrived

Northampton, England
January 11, 2026 2:11pm CST
So '28 Hours later' (2002) was a really classy mid-budget zombie flick from the U.K by brilliant director Danny Boyle. The plot was a young guy (Cillian Murphy) wakes up in his London hospital bed after his month long coma, only to discover there is no one around in the hospital, all a bit odd, no nurses, doctors or other patients. Is he still dreaming in his coma? He wanders onto the deserted London streets with not a person in sight in the once bustling city to discover he is not alone, a big gang of zombies chasing him down the street and over London Bridge. That movies most iconic moment was the way Boyle's cameras emptied London's streets without using special-effects or CGI and simply used a set of cameras on runners in the ten minute gap Transport for London allowed him to block off a street or two. If you haven't seen the film you should, better than Sinners (2024) if the truth be told. The sequel, 28 Weeks Later, was inevitable and arrived 328 weeks later, 2007, and with a different director, Boyle and Murphy moving onto bigger things. It was still a decent movie but had no continuity to the first film but did introduce us to the very beautiful and young Imogen Poots, who disappeared soon after this movie like the UK population had in the movie. So in 2025 we have 28 years Later, 23-years after the first movie, Danny Boyle back behind the camera. This one bears little resemblance to the first two movies in its expanse - presumably for budget reasons - and set on a small Scottish island (filmed on Lindisfarne in Northumbria, England) where the humans have their own medieval style fort to keep out the zombies, cut off by a tidal causeway for extra safety. The zombies are evolving in different ways, some good, some bad but can still be killed with a head or heart shot. Our protagonist is a young lad who is raised by his now sick mother (Jodie Comer) and stern boyfriend ( Aaron Taylor-Johnson), the alpha male of the camp teaching the kid zombie killing and hunting skills to protect his non and the elders. Today he wants to take the lad outside the walls for the first time and seek out a medical Dr a few miles away who may have medicine for his mom. After enjoying the first two films you kind of expect more of film three, as its come back after such a long wait. There must have been a reason Boyle wanted to get back involved. It's certainly atmospheric and poetic in its own way and the story less about close encounters with zombie action and more about love, family and ultimately death. It's beautifully filmed in those locations and cynical in the way it sets up the next film so it gets made. It's an excellent cast that flocks to this well respected and inventive director. This time the films most iconic moment being the size of the super tall zombies swinging penis, the girth and piston power of my old mom's rolling-pin. All the zombie are naked as their clothes long since deteriorated, of course. It's not a must see and like Sinners, just a stylish zombie film. Soundtrack is Celtic in its rhythms and the story somewhat opaque. They live in some sort of military exclusion zone from the years before so not sure why thats not explained, and if the zombie plague actually spread outside of the U/K. in the trilogy. I guess we will find that it in 28 Decades Later.
4 people like this
3 responses
@Tendz09 (600)
13 Jan
Nice review. It sounds like the film is more about atmosphere and emotions than scares.
@Nakitakona (59767)
• Philippines
12 Jan
When I was in my teens I love watching horror moves. As I grow age, I am less interested to it. Now I love adventure and thrilling detective ones.
@RasmaSandra (94036)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
11 Jan
Thank you for the review you make it sound interesting but I am not a zombie fan,