28 Years Later
June 18th, 2025
MOVIE: 28 YEARS LATER
STARRING: ALFIE WILLIAMS, JODIE COMER, AARON TAYLOR-JOHNSON, RALPH FIENNES
DIRECTED BY: DANNY BOYLE
AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 3 ½ STARS (Out of 4)
RATED: R
RUN TIME: 115 MINUTES
Knowing a director’s past work can often deepen your understanding of their current vision—and with Danny Boyle, that connection is essential. Boyle has always played by his own rules. Whether it was Slumdog Millionaire shocking the world by winning Best Picture, Trainspotting visually injecting itself into our cultural consciousness, or 28 Days Later—with an assist from Alex Garland—reinventing the zombie genre, Boyle’s signature style has always been unmistakable. That legacy sets the stage for 28 Years Later, the long-awaited sequel that honors genre tropes but transcends them. It’s less a zombie movie than a haunting coming-of-age story—about growing up fast and facing the inescapable truth that we all die someday.
The film is set on a quiet island off the coast of England, where a causeway connects to the zombie-infested mainland at low tide. The story centers on a family of three: Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), his bedridden wife, Isle (Jodie Comer), and their 12-year-old son Spike (Alfie Williams). Within the village, life maintains a fragile harmony—a version of normalcy always shadowed by dread. It’s Spike’s time to grow up, to leave the protective bubble, confront the reality of death, and learn what it means to kill.
What’s undeniable about Boyle and co-writer Alex Garland—reuniting after years apart—is their awareness that the traditional zombie genre is long past its peak. Instead of focusing on endless hordes of the undead, they turn inward, crafting a story about the living: how we cope, how we survive, and how we grow. The emotional core is Spike, whose journey into maturity is portrayed with aching vulnerability by Alfie Williams in a breakout performance. Jodie Comer is equally compelling as Isle, a mother gripped by illness but still capable of an immeasurable love that radiates through every frame.
28 Years Later is deeply sorrowful. It’s a meditation on the loss of innocence, the disillusionment of one parent, and the unbearable suffering of another. The film’s tone recalls the grim reflection of Garland’s Civil War and the bleakness of Boyle’s Trainspotting. Children are killed by zombies while watching Teletubbies. The infected are classified not as humans, but as animals. And the arrival of Ralph Fiennes as Dr. Kelson—a physician dismissed as “crazy”—reflects a world where trust in institutions has completely eroded.
Yet despite the despair, Anthony Dod Mantle’s cinematography finds beauty: lush fields, structures made of bone, and tranquil cliff sides offer glimpses of serenity in a chaotic world. The contrast between horror and visual grace becomes a defining feature—evidence of Boyle’s enduring ability to find poetry amid ruin.
What may be 28 Years Later’s most impressive feat is how boldly divisive it is. The ending unexpectedly ties back to the opening in a way that can only be described as “pure Boyle.” What happens in between subverts every expectation. One moment, zombies tear flesh from bone; the next, you’re weeping over a mother’s unconditional love. That range is astounding.
Danny Boyle has once again created a film that feels urgent, challenging, and relevant. Some will love it. Others will hate it. But like the world it depicts—on the brink of collapse—it refuses to settle for easy answers.
3 ½ STARS
28 YEARS LATER IS PLAYING IN THEATERS FRIDAY, JUNE 20TH, 2025.
Written by: Leo Brady
