Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
The Daily Cardinal Est. 1892
Saturday, July 12, 2025
arts.png
Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Alfie Williams in 28 Years Later (2025). Courtesy IMDb.

‘28 Years Later’ defies expectations in revival of classic zombie series

“28 Years Later” gives a glimpse into the life of both survivors and zombies decades after the rage virus’ outbreak.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for “28 Years Later” 

“28 Days Later,” released in 2002, left a mark on zombie movies as one of the first to feature fast-moving zombies spreading an infection through the vomiting of bodily fluids. Just over two decades later, “28 Years Later” has brought the franchise out of retirement, even beating the original and the series’ 2007 sequel “28 Weeks Later” at the box office

The film follows 12-year-old Spike (Alfie Williams), a boy who lives on an island insulated from the rage virus by high tides, as he strikes out on two journeys to the infected Scottish mainland.

As Spike and his father Jamie (Aaron Taylor–Johnson) explore the mainland on this coming-of-age trip, the British Isles are unrecognizable in the decades since the rage virus’ outbreak. This is aided by a finely-tuned mix of overgrown nature and the active decay of anything man-made.

In a terrifying way, the infected have been changed by time as well: the first zombie shown is pitiful and disgusting, ignoring Spike and Jamie to suck up earthworms. Yet others have become more dangerous, with a bigger and stronger “alpha” nearly killing them in an adrenaline-pumping chase across the tidal causeway leading to their home.

In the previous films, those infected with the rage virus had all been similar to typical zombies, but seeing how the infected humans have changed is one of the most horrifying parts of this movie.

Spike’s sick and deluded mother Isla (Jodie Comer), accompanies him on his second trip to the mainland as they seek to cure her by finding Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes). At this point in the movie, Kelson has been set up to fill the mad scientist trope, with people warning Spike of a mad hermit burning hundreds of bodies. However, since the film has already defied expectations around the setting and the infected, the audience is skeptical of these legends.

On this second journey, the film’s protagonists briefly travel with a stranded quarantine patrolman named Erik (Edvin Rdying). Erik is a breath of modernity in an otherwise medieval movie, showing Spike photos of his girlfriend on his phone and comparing the alpha zombies to the alphas of his world: investment bankers. 

On their adventure, Spike and Isla also meet an infected pregnant woman (Celi Crossland), who gives birth to an uninfected baby they then look after. This character’s terrifying concept, foreshadowed by an infected child among the worm-eaters, reinforces the idea that the rage virus will never burn itself out. 

When they reach Kelson, Spike is vindicated, as Kelson turns out to be a kind and helpful doctor, not a mad scientist. Kelson is quirky from years of isolation in a way that makes him immediately endearing to the audience. The doctor has created a monument out of bones in honor of “memento mori,” a classic Latin expression meaning “remember death.” This monument was used to evoke terror in the misleading and viral trailers for the film, but expectations are again defied as it acts as a touching tribute to the lives lost to the rage virus. 

In the movie’s final scenes, Kelson diagnoses Isla with a terminal form of cancer. As Spike reckons with his mother’s mortality, Kelson tells him the other half of his motto: “memento amoris,” Latin for “remember love.” This beautiful conclusion to the film, focusing on peace and love rather than action, the way that the other films in the series and the first half of this film do, makes “28 Years Later” a standout among its peers and an instant classic.

In just six months, “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” the fourth installment in the series, will be released. Filmed in conjunction with “28 Years Later,” it was directed by Nia DaCosta and will feature the return of Jim (Cillian Murphy), the main character in “28 Days Later.”

Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Daily Cardinal delivered to your inbox
Support your local paper
Donate Today
The Daily Cardinal has been covering the University and Madison community since 1892. Please consider giving today.

Oliver Gerharz

Oliver Gerharz is the podcast director for the Daily Cardinal. He also hosts the Cardinal Call Podcast. 


Powered by SNworks Solutions by The State News
All Content © 2025 The Daily Cardinal