Jacked In Reviews ’28 Years Later’ (2025)

In 2002, Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire) and Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Annihilation) teamed up and brought the world a British, apocalyptic, adrenaline-fueled, horror that saw the United Kingdom turn to shit after just 28 Days. Those who weren’t infected with the aptly named rage virus did what they could to survive… and avoid contamination.

In 2007, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo took us further down the timeline, showing us how things had progressed (or descended)… 28 Weeks Later.

Now, in 2025, nearly (pretty much) 28 Years Later after the first movie, Boyle and Garland join forces once again to show us how things don’t always get better with time…

After being greeted by the teletubbies, witnessing a mass family slaughter and having Lowly by the Glaswegian band, Young Fathers fill our ears – all within the first five minutes – the dull, monotone taste left in our mouths from this movie’s predecessor is immediately washed out. Straying away from the south this time around and into the Northeast of England, we see how the Geordies have dealt with being quarantined for nearly three decades.

Initially, at the forefront of this tale, we have Spike (Alfie Williams) venturing out into the mainland and learning the ropes of survival from his father, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Although we have Ralph Fiennes as the eccentric Dr. Kelson and Taylor-Johnson, who doesn’t play a half-bad Novocastrian native, it is Newcastle’s very own Williams who steals the show, bringing a tremendous authenticity to the role.

The most captivating portion of the story, mainly lies within the first third of the movie.

The most captivating portion of the story mainly lies within the first third of the movie. After we jump ship from Spike’s father to his mother, Isla (Jodie Comer), the interest is somewhat lost, before reaching for an emotional payoff that just seems to miss the mark. From a technical perspective, though, the movie is an absolute mastery of cinema (none too suprising with Boyle at the helm), with a fantastical soundtrack that elevates the world in which this takes place. Not only that, it showcases so many of the gorgeous locations within the Northeast of England and proves that it certainly deserves more exposure on the big screen.

A main strength of 28 Days Later was that it leaned heavily into British realism with quite a serious tone, whereas the sequel seemed to take a more Americanised action movie approach. Although this instalment leans more into the trilogy’s British routes, it’s not as humourless as its predecessors. This becomes most apparent with an ending that makes the audiences exclaim “What the fuck was that?!”. In fact, aside from featuring the infected, the only commonality each instalment shares is that tonally, none of them are alike.

However, more fun can definitely be had by not clinging to the previous films.

The gore is splatteriffic but with creative choices being taken with some of the “evolved” infected (#28incheslater), a few plot holes (someone is always guarding the gate, but no one saw him drop that basket off?) and subplots which felt hard to latch onto, it just didn’t have the same impact as it’s 2002 counterpart. However, more fun can definitely be had by not clinging to the previous films.

Side note: if you’re going to have a society of Geordies, there needs to be at least ONE in a toon top.

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