As belated sequels go, 28 YEARS LATER was much more interesting than it had any right to be. Danny Boyle’s return to a zombie-ridden UK after 23 years was a thematically dense but muddled affair. Nia DaCosta takes directorial duties for this sequel, arriving much more quickly, and delivers a more focused story, which perhaps trades some narrative propulsion for a more coherent set of central themes that nevertheless leaves the door open to many readings of the film.
The film picks up in the aftermath of the bizarre ending of 28 YEARS LATER, with Spike pitted to fight against the gaggle of wayward waifs under the banner of ‘Lord Sir Jimmy Crystal’ (Jack O’Connell). Jimmy, whose survival of the initial rage virus outbreak is depicted in the opening of the previous film, styles himself in the fashion and aesthetics of Sir Jimmy Saville. He roams the land with his Satanist acolytes – the ‘Fingers’, all renamed ‘Jimmy’ – terrorising other survivors. In parallel, Dr Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) seemingly starts to make progress in communicating with and pacifying a rampaging ‘alpha’ zombie he has named Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry).
If Danny Boyle’s preceding film was a finger in the eye of British exceptionalism and insularity, then Nia DaCosta’s is a more hopeful rebuke, albeit with a helpful dose of cynicism. The core figure around which these ideas revolve is Ralph Fiennes’s Kelson, who arrived late to the narrative in 28 YEARS LATER. His curious, patient, and methodical mindset in trying – against all self-preservation instincts – to ‘connect’ with an alpha zombie stands in direct contrast to Jack O’Connell’s Jimmy. Jimmy beats down the individual identities of his indentured followers, exploits them, and misleads them.
“When Kelson speaks of the certainty and order that existed before the rage virus, the central conflict’s parallels with competing contemporary worldviews become clear.”
As with its predecessor, there are a number of thematic strands, but DaCosta and writer Alex Garland succeed in having them revolve around the central narrative more coherently than the latter’s script for 28 YEARS LATER managed. A nuance the film achieves (with very un-nuanced scenes of bloody violence) is the differentiation between those who have lost their way and those who would lead others astray. Samson is afflicted, whereas Jimmy is in some way rotten. Samson is clouded, whereas Jimmy’s malevolent pursuit of power is clear. Even then, the film doesn’t ignore why Jimmy may have become such an infernal force, something explored through his calm interactions with Kelson.
When Kelson speaks of the certainty and order that existed before the rage virus, the central conflict’s parallels with competing contemporary worldviews become clear. There is perhaps an echo of complacent neoliberalism running through the film, which never quite walks down the path of why systems and people failed in the face of a malevolent force. This is most obviously present in a very clunky final scene which inelegantly espouses the virtues of the post-War world order. If anything, the largely overlooked 2007 entry 28 WEEKS LATER perhaps interrogates the idea of burgeoning fascist violence more than this latest one. However, Fiennes’s empathy-filled performance grounds the film in a form of humanity rather than ideology. It is Kelson’s empathy, reason and radical methods which offer a path out of fear and chaos.
“Fiennes’s empathy-filled performance grounds the film in a form of humanity rather than ideology. It is Kelson’s empathy, reason and radical methods which offer a path out of fear and chaos.”
The narrative itself is surprisingly sparse, and there is little development in characters, even if Erin Kellyman as Jimmy Ink presents an interesting trajectory from follower to sceptic. In that regard, 28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE largely shelves and sidelines Spike’s story from 28 YEARS LATER. However, this lack of narrative progression can be forgiven when it pursues character and theme as interestingly as the film does. Rather than picking over the nostalgic bones of a very different story from a different era, the film takes the messy themes of 28 YEARS LATER and brings them together into a compelling whole based in compassion and the notion that even suffering will return to dust.
28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE is an oddly hopeful film. Although it acknowledges the terrifying violence and chaos the world can offer, and the ugly souls who would take advantage of it, it nevertheless sees a way out of the shit: a path which is replete with radical empathy, yet offers no excuses for cruelty.