Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jack O’Connell, Alfie Williams, Ralph Fiennes
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 115 mins

28 Years Later is the long-awaited third instalment in the 28 Days Later series, director Danny Boyle’s 2002 post-apocalyptic horror that was novel for introducing the fast-moving zombie (even if Boyle famously doesn’t consider it to be a zombie film). The film arrives 18 years after 28 Weeks Later, which was directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and although it received positive reviews, it isn’t anywhere near as highly regarded as the original – a shame, in my opinion, because it has plenty of bright spots. Not only is Danny Boyle back in the director’s chair, Alex Garland is on screenplay duties (he also wrote the original), and Garland’s seen plenty of success in his recent directorial career with thoughtful films such as Ex_Machina, Civil War and Warfare. The duo have envisaged 28 Years Later as the first of a new trilogy, and was filmed back-to-back with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (although Candyman‘s Nia DaCosta is in the director’s chair), which conveniently releases in 28 weeks’ time.

Outside of what I consider to be a prologue (which involves a chilling appearance of The Teletubbies – yes, really!) and a final scene that is certainly a choice, the film is formed of three distinct acts. 28 years after the outbreak, the Rage Virus has been eradicated from continental Europe but is still running rife in the UK. A survivor community live on Lindisfarne, an island separated by a fortified causeway. 12 year old Spike (Alfie Williams) lives with his scavenger father, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and mother Isla (Jodie Comer). Jamie takes Spike to the mainland for a coming-of-age ritual, while Isla stays at home and suffers from an unknown illness. Jamie and Spike’s mainland escapade forms the first act. The second act then follows what Spike considers to be a rational decision to head off the island again and then the third introduces a former doctor and survivor, Dr Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes).

28 Years Later is a very exciting and ambitious sequel that was worth the long wait and it often really soars. This is a Danny Boyle film through-and-through, so expect the grainy feel of the original (this time, lots of the film is shot on iPhones), coupled with seriously kinetic cinematography from Boyle’s regular collaborator Anthony Dod Mantle. This is a film that’s full of ideas, and one that refuses to take obvious choices and like some of Garland’s recent filmography, there are plenty of influences from the UK’s recent political turmoils as the duo paint a picture of a national identity crisis.

When we get to the action, 28 Years Later is absolutely bursting with adrenaline and you’re constantly looking around the screen (when Mantle chooses to settle the camera for a second) for danger. The first act is where the film is strongest, especially a sequence where Spike and Jamie find themselves cornered in a house and a white-knuckle chase along a causeway. I love the way Mantle chooses to briefly pause a shot when an infected is killed and replay the kill from a different angle, and there are some stunning shots of the lush Northumbrian countryside, as well as the sadly-no-more Sycamore Gap tree near Hadrian’s Wall.

The film makes a choice in the second act, which prompts Spike to return to the mainland and this stretch felt a little clunky to me, even if it’s still very entertaining. But the third act when Ralph Fiennes’ character enters the fray sees the film back on firmer footing and there’s plenty of the folkloric and elegiac elements clearly inspired by Garland’s Annihilation and Men. Garland says he was inspired by Ken Loach’s Kes when he wrote the film and that’s certainly an apt observation because the coming-of-age element of Spike as a character really shines through.

Speaking of the performances, they’re uniformly excellent. This is a barnstorming debut from Alfie Williams as Spike, who really nails the part and convincingly portrays the teenager’s development into being fully independent. I’ve not been kind on Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the past – the actor needs the right role to thrive and he really was terrible in Nosferatu at the start of this year. But 28 Years Later represents his best performance since Nocturnal Animals – he’s brilliant here as the world-weary and unpredictable father who’s rather handy with a bow and arrow. Jodie Comer’s usually the highlight of whatever she plays in but I’d say she’s outperformed by Williams and Taylor-Johnson in the central trio, but it’d also be fair to say her character has the least amount of meat on the bone. Finally, Ralph Fiennes always elevates anything he’s in and he’s brilliant here as Dr Kelson, a cross between Apocalypse Now‘s Colonel Kurtz with the well-spoken nature of his concierge from The Grand Budapest Hotel, or the acclaimed film director in Hail, Caesar!.

28 Years Later is a really thrilling sequel filled to the brim with ideas and represents a thoroughly strange but satisfying melding of Danny Boyle’s filmmaking attributes with the grand ideas of Alex Garland. It might not always work but when it peaks, 28 Years Later is transcendent. I’m very excited to see where the story heads next and although many have expressed dissatisfaction at the intentionally befuddling final scene, fear not because I’m confident we’re in safe hands.