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On a small island untouched by the zombie plague started in 28 Days Later, a father (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) decides to journey to the infected mainland to teach his young son, Spike (Alfie Williams), how to kill zombies. They are forced into an abandoned attic by an especially deadly ‘alpha’ zombie, where they spot a large fire in the distance. Spike’s father tells him the fire belongs to a mad doctor who should be avoided. But when Spike returns to his island home, he confronts his adulterous father for never taking his sick mother (Jodie Comer) to the doctor on the mainland. While the father is away, Spike leaves for the mainland with his mom — prepared to kill any zombie that stands in their way.
28 Years Later is a surprisingly intimate story about a boy trying to save his mother. It is not at all a traditional sequel focused on the zombies or surviving them. There are still plenty of zombie threats complete with requisite gore, but it’s not the engine that runs this movie. It’s backdrop now — as it would indeed become to characters who survive such an apocalypse for so many years. The primary conflicts in this film are among the uninfected human characters: first between father and son, then between the son and a brash young soldier (Edvin Ryding) who accompanies them for a little while, and finally between the son and the mysterious doctor he’s searching for — an enigmatic character played beautifully by Ralph Fiennes. This shift in focus may alienate base-level horror fans in search of a zombie action film, but it may intrigue genre fans looking for a film with more meat on its bones. The climax of the film is a quiet, powerfully emotional one without a zombie in sight — and it’s far and away the best part of the movie.
This film opens and concludes with a mysterious character named ‘Jimmy’ (played by Rocco Haines in youth and by Jack O’Connell as a young adult), who looks to be the next questionable father figure in Spike’s life. Director Danny Boyle (Sunshine, The Beach) and screenwriter Alex Garland (Civil War, Annihilation) seem to be starting a new storyline instead of concluding a trilogy (after 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later). If so, I can see it becoming a compelling one about coming of age in the apocalypse, with young Spike encountering all manner of opportunists and men of twisted faith who challenge his morality in a world full of fear. If this is how the proliferous zombie movie finally comes of age, I’m in.