Preamble

I was reminded whilst waiting for 28 Years Later to start just how prevalent the horror genre has become. I mean there are programmed trailers and all, but it’s near saturation point. However, 28 Years Later has stood out in my mind as a film to be curious about (especially when returning to the original recently). Anyway, have you seen the Danny Boyle-directed sequel? Let me know in the comments below.

Brief Consideration

28 Years Later is a harrowing and poignant sequel that greatly moved and terrified me. Set nearly 30 years after the original outbreak, the film is about a father-son duo, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Spike (Alfie Williams), who venture from their island to the mainland to carry out a series of coming-of-age rituals. 

If the original was about the notion of empathy and killing then the sequel is about the loss of innocence. Many moments throughout the movie show something fairly benign being undercut by the haunting reality. The opening involving an episode of Teletubbies being savagely interrupted by an adult rage virus attack illustrates this aspect well. 

Alex Garland’s screenplay posits that no matter what, a child’s purity is going to be ground down, whether it’s a tear-inducing ceremony to mark a parent’s passing or the first time Spike is commanded to kill recently turned infected. 

At the same time, Garland takes a macro societal view that even when we are ravaged by a virus that’s wiped out most of the population, we still repeat the same patterns. We still train and treat our young like soldiers in war (in the name of the queen and region), and the maternal instinct is still a formable force that keeps any virus thinking at bay. This is coupled with the opening and coda suggesting that institutional abuse is still prevalent, especially if it wears the face of a local vicar or a seemingly helpful man who is very oddly dressed.

In this way, it feels as though Garland has more of a voice in this film than the 2002 film. However, that could be recency bias given his preoccupations in his directorial efforts (Men and Civil War in particular). 

Having said that, Danny Boyle, along with returning cinematographer, Anthony Dod Mantle, creates some striking imagery. This is apparent in a shimmering effect that results in some shots having a desert dune quality and visceral zombie point-of-view shots (filmed using multiple iPhones). 

But some of my favourite shots were Boyle and Dod playing with colour. There are dreamlike depictions of the infected in red that give the movie a surreal Giallo quality. These instances of medium shots and close-ups are punctuated by newsreel footage that accentuates the themes in profound ways. The editing also plays with time in a way that disorients us and gets us to experience the concept through a fragmented lens (matching the plight of one of the characters).

Overall, 28 Years Later pleasantly surprised me. Aside from its themes, filmmaking and acting (Jodie Comer is the highlight in her heartbreaking depiction of a fractured mind), the film reminded me why horror cinema is so appealing. It can get us to confront tough subject matters with an accute sense of frankness that can be healing and cathartic.