REVIEW #444 28 Years Later (2025)

28 Years Later

Synopsis

With the UK still quarantined almost three decades after a deadly virus infects the population, a small island of survivors are still fighting for their lives.

My Review

28 Years Later allows Danny Boyle to let loose, leaving his trademark flare and style in an innovative exploration into the universe we’ve all been dying to see more of. I loved seeing how the lore of this world has developed and it’s fair to say there are a few crazy ideas but it does provide a certain freshness to the franchise, ups the stakes and leaves audiences desperate to see more in the upcoming sequel. The tone was set immediately with the opening sequence and it was incredibly brutal and eerie, the perfect way to open a film such as this. With the risk of sounding like a broken record when it comes to Jodie Comer, she is the standout for me, but that wouldn’t be possible without the amazing debut performance of Alfie Williams! Their relationship provides the beating heart of the movie and without revealing too much, they had me close to tears. On top of that, we also have Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes who also perform well, bringing rather contrasting characters into the fold, but crucial to the story. 

In regards to the story, it was certainly not what I was expecting, the trailer, in all of its glory, painted a very different picture and I loved the fact that I was led astray and presented with something unexpected! Boyle is very experimental with his camerawork, even going as far as creating his own iPhone contraption to capture many different angles at once. The final product worked well and I particularly enjoyed the infrared style to capture the infected, symbolising the primal nature of the virus! The only shots I would say didn’t work, were when they tried to manipulate the sky, whether that be with northern lights or a manufactured sunset, the manipulation was glaringly obvious and pulled me out of the scene slightly. All in all, this is a glaring success for Boyle and his team and I hope the financial success follows so we get the teased third film, which would also see the return of Cillian Murphy to lead it! Oh, be prepared for a wild ending too, you have to appreciate that remix of the Teletubbies theme tune.

My Rating: 8 out of 10

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