28 YEARS LATER (2025)

I’m not a fan of this franchise. I said it. Mind you it was love at first sight for Cillian Murphy 28 years ago and I liked the shots taken at its cowardly protagonist (Robert Carlyle, also love) in 28 Weeks Later (2007). It’s just that I find the intermittent and frantic camera work distractingly artsy fartsy and the zombies always looked, well, lame. Still, it continues to attract excellent talent (this time: Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jack O’Connell, Ralph Fiennes, all excellent), which doesn’t automatically guarantee a good movie – sorry Sinners (2025) –  but one must never lose hope. And Director Danny Boyle delivers. Due, most truly, to main character Spike, the youngest and least known cast member (Alfie Williams). Now I’m always here for a flawed and jaded main character, but I was inspired by this 12-year-old who despite growing up in a zombie apocalypse with less than ideal pressures and parents, owns, perhaps has even inherited, a fresh personality and stoicism. He’s growing up and there’s nothing to do but forge ahead with his eyes and heart focused on what’s true. Now the jittery camera and its angles remain, and the zombies look slightly less corny as they run around like big, goofy toddlers, but thankfully they’re relegated to the background. It’s the young lad’s journey that captivates and makes 28 Years Later well worth the wait.

WATCH OR NOT: WATCH

Additional musings: 28 Years Later is not the end, but the start of a new trilogy, with the second film (28 Years Later: The Bone Temple) scheduled for release in January 2026.