All Aboard the Rage Train: a Review of 28 Years Later

By Eric Robert Nolan

28 Days Later / 28 Weeks Later (Double Feature) [DVD] [Region Free]

Perhaps predictably, I truly enjoyed 28 Years Later (2025). It wasn't a perfect film, but it was damned good; I'd rate it a 9 out of 10. Screenwriter Alex Garland and director Danny Boyle are still the dream team for stylish, breakneck-paced action-horror. (It was their incendiary creative alchemy gave us the classic 2002 original film, 28 Days Later.")

The movie has beautiful acting across the board, kinetic action sequences, decent makeup effects, convincing sets, a resonant theme and some gorgeous cinematography. Jodie Comer and Ralph Fiennes absolutely shine; Aaron Taylor-Johnson is also quite good. But I particularly enjoyed the performance of 14-year-old Alfie Williams, whose character's coming-of-age comprises the human story of the film.

On the downside, 28 Years Later has some problems with pacing and structure -- although things like those are especially subjective, and other viewers will hardly notice.

Several characters make decisions that are ... baffling. (Yes, I do realize that Williams' character is supposed to be 12 years old, and that this is a horror movie. But ... seriously, what the hell, kiddo?) And there are some larger plot questions that I can't really expand upon for fear of spoilers.

Finally, an abrupt change of tone at the end of the film left me feeling a little nonplussed. It might make sense in a larger context -- the next "28" installment is due out in January 2026, and the hard left turn we see in the final moments might be validated where the next movie picks up. For now, though, I have mixed feelings about this ending. (I want to know why a lengthy, somber meditation on mortality should end like a Saturday morning cartoon.)

I cheerfully recommend this! It is obviously not for the faint of heart, but it’s highly effective action-horror that still manages to catch the viewer off guard. And Boyle delivers it with oddball, feverish finesse.

Article © Eric Robert Nolan. All rights reserved.
Published on 2025-08-18

2 Reader Comments

edmondslance
08/18/2025
01:58:58 PM

Eric, I am so glad you reviewed this film.
I wasn't sure I was going to like this one as I was disappointed with '28 Weeks Later '.
However, '28 Years Later ' delivered on arguably an even higher level than '28 Days Later'.
Though the inception of the franchise has to be given credit for providing an alternative to the typical zombie movie.
In this universe, humans are infected with:rage'. At the time, I felt this was a social commentary on the state of our society. That we were increasingly unable to deal with one another on a rational level.
I rather thought that 28 Days Later was a dystopian warning on how quickly a functioning society could fall into chaos.
With the current addition of 28 Years Later, I thought the filmmakers improved on the original source material by focusing the story on how future societies could affect their younger generations by depriving them of a "childhood ".
The fact that the main protagonist in 28 Years Later is neither the father nor the mother, buy rather their 12 year old son, grabs the audience by the heart strings.
I do agree that the ending was quite bizarre.
My original assumption of the prologue at the beginning of the film is disproved. The boy's father turns out NOT to be the lad we are introduced to when the outbreak of rage started 28 years ago.
Hopefully, this will add another complexity to the Saga when the next in the series is released.

Eric Robert Nolan
08/25/2025
09:33:58 AM

All excellent points, Lance! It is only recently that I've come to appreciate that you are a truly astute horror movie fan!