Shadows on the Wall | 28 Years Later

28 Years Later...

dir Danny Boyle
scr Danny Boyle, Alex Garland
prd Danny Boyle, Alex Garland, Andrew Macdonald, Bernard Bellew, Peter Rice
with Alfie Williams, Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes, Jack O'Connell, Edvin Ryding, Chi Lewis-Parry, Emma Laird, Christopher Fulford, Joe Blakemore, Gordon Alexander, Geoffrey Austin Newland
release US/UK 20.Jun.25
25/UK Columbia 1h55

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Evoking a rattling B-movie vibe, Danny Boyle and Alex Garland are back for some even more visceral running-zombie mayhem, not quite 28 years after they kicked things off in 2002. This is a gritty, urgent burst of action that worms its way under the skin. With all new characters, this film has some surprising textures in its relationships, which creates a deeper involvement as things get properly nasty.

After the rage virus left England quarantined, a tiny island community has been protected by a causeway that disappears with the tide. Now 12, Spike (Williams) makes his first trip to the mainland with his dad Jamie (Taylor-Johnson), who has trained him to skilfully use a bow and arrow. Terrifying adventures ensue, including Spike killing his first infected attacker. And when he learns that Dr Kelson (Fiennes) is out there, Spike becomes determined to bring his weakening mother Isla (Comer) to get help. But on this quest he catches the ire of infected uberbeast Samson (Lewis-Parry).

After taking time to build a strong sense of this tight-knit survivalist community, the filmmakers create a powerful sense of vulnerability by sending key characters away from the safety of their idyllic home. Each encounter with these marauding, naked, flesh-eaters is harrowing, using a range of vivid settings that feel powerfully familiar, in an apocalyptic sort of way. It's a remarkably effective mix of complex characters, churning suspense and blood-spurting nastiness.

In the focal role, Williams traces Spike's momentous, Hunger Games-style trial-the-fire journey from observant child to proactive young teen. Likeable and charismatic, he navigates a terrific range of emotional responses along the way, finding specific chemistry with the superbly nuanced Comer and Taylor-Johnson, plus an especially up-for-it Fiennes. Ryding is also excellent as a young Swedish soldier they encounter along the way. And Lewis-Parry puts his formidable physicality to great use as the relentless alpha zombie.

All of this is shot on a phone, creating superbly low-fi digital imagery that's augmented with saturated colours and immersive sound. Camerawork and editing are restless. And the plot continually finds crowd-pleasing ways to save people (or not) at the last possible moment. This approach lets Boyle and Garland find some very strong thematic touches in their knowing depiction of a post-tech society. And it leads directly into what looks like a thunderous next chapter in the tale.

themes, language, violence, sexuality 18.Jun.25

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