Rated R

Running Time: 115 minutes

RT score: 95% with 87 reviews

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/28_years_later

Metacritic: 78

https://www.metacritic.com/movie/28-years-later/

You can continue any pre-release talk here: https://forum.dvdtalk.com/movie-talk...n-fiennes.html

It dates back to 2015




Seeing this Thursday Night. AMC does have a Fan screening (non premium screen) that is giving out a free poster. It is honored by A-List

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The sequel has already been filmed and will open in January of 2026

Seeing this tonight in Dolby. Crazy that the fan event is in a regular theater. It's wild how high the RT score is. I don't ever really put much into that but it was just shocking to me. Not that I was expecting it to be low or anything.

I liked this one!! Coming of age in the land of infected. Fiennes has a really good character. Some good new lore to the infected was introduced. They do this mini bullet time thing that I liked. There was a picture released of this like 15 iphone set up in a ring around the actor that looked silly. Seeing it in action was neat.

I thought it was quite solid. Yes, a coming of age horror movie.

Alfie Williams was fantastic as Spike as was Jodie Comer as his Mom and Fiennes as the doctor. Really heartbreaking moments between Spike and his Mom.

While it did have tension and violence, I think they did a good job not overblowing the gore. But, there were some violent deaths.

and while I liked that everything came full circle at the end tying into the character from the opening scene. But, that scene was so goofy and cartoonish. It was kind of cringe. That was really my only issue.

Overall, a solid addition to this franchise and it does kind of end setting up another movie.

I really enjoyed this. Solid performances all around.

I might have missed it, but why didn’t Ralph Fiennes kill the Alpha. He had two onscreen chances and from the sounds of it MANY offscreen chances. Why not machete his dome off when he had him incapacitated.

At first I was skeptical about the 3rd film in the trilogy being the first film in a new trilogy. But I’m really looking forward to where they take this. Hopefully Danny Boyle directs the 3rd one. More importantly hopefully it actually gets made.

Also if the 3rd one does get made, I hope
its a box office failure, so the temptation isn’t as strong to make a gazillion more.

I was wondering this too. Maybe the next movie gets more into his character. He's very smart so there's gotta be some reason for him to let Alpha just roam around.

Same here. Really took me out of the movie for a minute. But as I was thinking about it, I feel like his buddies are supposed to look like his dead sisters. Like it's his revenge gang. I could just be making shit up though.

Ok, came across some talk about the ending characters: They said to look up Jimmy Savile. Now this makes sense.

Being chased by one of those alpha infected would be absolutely terrifying.

I liked it, and knew going in there was a follow up movie coming out a few months later, but I wish they had just made this into a TV show (limited series at least). Could have added more depth to the characters and story.

Did you guys miss it? 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is already filmed and coming out in January in theaters.

This was way different than what I was expecting but I liked it.

Guess outside of the quarantine area the world is back to normal? Why the hell would you stay there? Lol

Kid who played Spike did a great job.

I thought the soldier said that once you're there you can't come off. That's why he was pissed he didn't become a delivery driver because he was now going to be stick.

Probably did. kind of dumb though, if you aren’t infected then who cares? The infection is instantaneous so its not like you could be fine and then turn later.

I just read that creepy chant that was in the trailer and played in the movie for a little is from an actual audio recording from 1915

It's a poem called "Boots"

https://variety.com/2025/film/news/2...ng-1236437024/

in 28 Weeks Later we found out there are asymptomatic carriers. They have the potential to infect others later.

But Boyle is not keeping 28 Weeks Later in the canon.https://collider.com/28-years-later-...r-danny-boyle/

Caught this yesterday. I had only seen the first one when it opened back in 2003, and since 28 weeks has been de-canonized, looks like that was all I needed. I really enjoyed it even though it was a bit down beat. Lots of good visuals and lore building alongside some really good acting. Alfie Williams was exceptionally good in the lead role, and I hope he continues working for many years. My only gripe about the movie was that like many "horror" movies, someone has to do something that is pretty stupid for the plot to move along. Spike taking his mentally unstable mother out into the zombie infested wasteland just seemed pretty irrational to me, even if he did hate his dad at that point. He wasn't in any way prepared to protect her or face the challenges ahead, but maybe that was the point. Speaking of his mother, Jodie Comer continues to blow me away in whatever she does, even when she plays annoying characters like in The Bikeriders. I have only seen a few episodes of Killing Eve, maybe I should watch a few more as that's her signature role.

Stuff that I really liked:

- Isla taking out the zombie while her son slept. I guess this was to show that nothing can stop a mother protecting her son, even not being entirely there mentally.

-Fiennes character not being some kind of a secret mad doctor but actually a serious one who will do his best to help other people. He really did provide the emotional support needed to the hero.

-The movie not ending with the predictable outcome of Spike returning home with the uninfected kid and becoming a hero reunited with and forgiving his dad. Ending with a decision to return to the wild a las Mad Max seemed like the right choice for his hero's journey. It adds some nuance that it ends with him appearing to befriend what will probably become his nemesis rather than him just happening into a situation where they are present. I do hope we get more of O'Connell as Jimmy. He was having fun in that role just like he did with Remmick, despite it basically being a cameo.

Q: was the pregnant rage zombie in that condition before getting infected and the fetus was protected, or are we to infer that Samson and other alphas have the ability to impregnate female zombies? Samson seemed pretty irked at her death, so I am curious if that was the case. Speaking of Samson, was that a prosthetic the actor was using for the frontal shots, or his he really that well endowed? That just seemed unnatural.

Also, I am guessing the shots of Cillian Murphy visiting the set were due to him being an Exec Producer and not a surprise cameo, unless he makes an appearance in the sequel.

Well, that was some bonkers shite. I am not sure what to make of it, or how I feel about it.

I had trouble understanding dialogue in the beginning. I can usually dial
in to accents, so I’m going to partially fault the sound mix or sound system. Anybody else run into that?

The beginning was … beautifully disturbing and horribly nonsensical. People in my showing were actually screaming during the Teletubbies. Why was the “mad priest” so welcoming of this end? If he was that welcoming, why would he have been holed up and survived that long?

I was totally with it during the Aaron Taylor Johnson sub-story. Really liked that.

When the kid decided to take his mom to the doctor (I get it and thought it worked with the story), the the storytelling just seemed to get lazy. They make it through a few scraps and a few major run-ins, but largely no major hardships that it feel as if there were no real stakes.

The soldier was a funny addition and did bring some much needed levity. It was a very interesting dynamic as we typically see these apocalyptic movies as total societal devastation. Here we have the rest of the world moving on and this becomes a forgotten footnote. That part felt chillingly realistic.

I got the sense the doctor and the “tribe” had arrived at a mutual agreement. The infected are obviously forming communities and “evolving”. The train seemed to be the boundary that the doctor and the alpha established. The alpha was hesitant and reluctant about entering or leaving (I forget which one; he knew it was a violation of the truce. The doctor isn’t going to kill
him, he is studying them. He even said he suspected they would start reproducing.

OK, now comes the part that I HATED … “I think you have cancer.” “I think I have cancer. I love my son, but fuck him, I’m ready to die now.” I know this was supposed to be a beautiful and emotional scene, but this SUCKED as storytelling. I know it’s a ticking time bomb and there is no sure prediction. I know that there comes a point that this is a compassionate death … but they failed at making this seem like the time was now. They should have let time pass and shown them
living with the doctor for awhile.

Oh, and then, the boy walks back home, carrying an infant, with no problems.

Maybe it is just the piss-poor job at actually establishing time and distance.

… and then there is the ending. I … it … what was that? Track suit Swedish ninjas?!

I forgot to grab a poster. It was after 1am thanks to 30+ minutes of pre-show (and I did a double feature with Ballerina). I went to that “Big D” and the lights didn’t flash this time, so that’s good.

Huh. Just realized I guess I saw The (Alpha’s) Big D on a Big D.

I believe Boyle said that if the second does well enough and they get approved for the third, then

Yes!!! It just just super tough in the beginning to get some of those words.

I really like this idea. Makes sense but then I don't get how as they were crossing the doctor's little water bridge he said this keeps them out....but then it didn't.

Totally agree. That would have been nice because it seems like the kid really didn't have much quality time with mom on the island and when she was with the doctor she seemed to have more clarity.

It seems even Brits like Critical Drinker had a tough time with the accents. So it's not you or the sound mix.

I thought this was great, and gave it a 4 out of 5 star rating. But I'd warn anyone who is expecting a carbon copy of the first two films. It's nothing like those in execution and pacing. The first is the best, and I enjoyed the sequel. This one though has the best story overall IMO. Which left it open to it's sequels. Yes, this is much slower. But I found the payoff so rewarding. The premise is more heartbreaking and even very moving. And all of the performance were exceptional. Especially the kid who played Spike. He carried this film.

They weren't Swedish, they were "Pikies." Gave me Snatch flashbacks.

It's illustrating that the survivors are part of clans now.

I got the clan thing, even the infected have clans. It is society rebuilding in isolation.

I’m not sure if they were actual Pikey (I imagine many clans forming under these circumstances could meet the criteria), but they gave the vibe.

I was referring to the towhead blonde hair. (The soldier was actually Swedish.)

Yeah, he was Swedish from Sweden.

That felt like a throwback to Jeremy Renner's character in 28 Weeks Later. They both meet different fates that end the same way.