28 Years Later review: A more reflective, human story that puts the franchise back on track

The momentum was lost by the time of 28 Weeks Later in 2007 (on which the pair were credited as executive producers), its comparatively lukewarm reception arguably a factor in why it’s taken so long for a third entry in the franchise to get off the ground.

Now, having delegated the heavy lifting to others for the last film, Boyle and Garland are back in the drivers’ seats to impart deeper wisdom about the longer-term aftermath of a world gone to hell - their apocalypse nous, if you will.

The passing of time, in narrative terms, is crucial, inviting viewers to flick forward several chapters to a mainland UK quarantined for close to three decades, its waters patrolled by foreign military to ensure the infected (and their subsequent progeny) stay put.

Meanwhile, on Holy Island off the coast of Northumbria, a close-knit healthy community goes about the day-to-day rebuilding of a working society, including 30-something couple Jamie and Isla (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer) and their 12-year-old offspring Spike (relative newcomer Alfie Williams).

Father takes son on an outlawed foraging trip to said mainland, where victims of the initial biological meltdown have mutated into a multi-tiered society of their own; slow-moving obese souls who largely crawl on their bellies feeding on worms, speedier folk hunting and eating herds of deer, and - most aggressively - "alphas" whose super-strength manifests itself in maniacally murderous behaviour.

It’s Spike’s first expedition, a rite of passage celebrated upon his return in boozy pagan style by a wild party, the islanders singing along uproariously to 19th-century Geordie folk song The Blaydon Races and, for some unexplained reason, the Tom Jones hit Delilah.

Yet, the soon-to-be teenager is unhappy, increasingly concerned about his mother’s failing health, and having heard tales of an eccentric, uninfected doctor still living on the mainland, he takes her back to seek him out in the hope of finding a cure.

Garland’s script suffers a little from disjointed pace, its first act feeling like an overlong set-up for the meat of the second and its more typical elements of a post-apocalyptic voyage with specific intent.

Once the aforementioned medical man (an equal parts bonkers and charismatic Ralph Fiennes) enters the fray, there’s a more tangible sense of a mythology developing from the initial catastrophic events, of a land adapting to an uncertain future while paying homage to its past.

A philosophy of sorts emerges, seen through the eyes of Alfie, the post-outbreak child for whom the internet, smart phones and selfies represent baffling magic (the film milks light-relief laughs accordingly).

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It’s a hefty weight to place on Williams’s young shoulders, and he turns in an outstanding, remarkably layered performance, routinely acting his more lauded elders off the screen.

Taylor-Johnson conveys cocksure bluster as the proud provider for his family, perhaps enjoying his standing in the new make-and-mend hierarchy too much; Comer skilfully pulls at heartstrings as the stricken Isla, drifting in and out of lucidity while haunted by vivid memories of happier times before the outbreak.

The result is a well-seasoned, emotionally nutritious soup that feeds its audience a more reflective, human story than before, while never forgetting to satisfy the appetites of fans who may have climbed aboard primarily for the frights and gore – the violence is suitably, shockingly, deftly choreographed, although an over-reliance on fast-cuts and freeze-frames can frustrate.

Quibbles aside, Boyle and Garland have nonetheless put the franchise back on track in style, and with clearly mapped-out plans for future instalments – 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple was shot immediately afterwards and is due for release in early 2026.

The closing couple of minutes here tease at the contents of the next film, and suggest a radically different scenario to what we’ve seen so far.

It looks like being a much more playful affair (no spoilers) that could either thrill or infuriate devotees, but at the very least it’s reassuring to see a supremely gifted duo of filmmakers relishing opportunities to sink their teeth into something fresh.

28 Years Later is now showing in UK cinemas.

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