Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Two decades after jolting the zombie genre with 28 Days Later, director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland reunite for 28 Years Later, a follow-up that’s bloody, brutal, and in parts surprisingly beautiful. Garland relishes exploring a world gone to hell, something the Oscar-winning Boyle showcases here. But 28 Years Later proves most memorable and elegiac in its quieter moments. It’s easy to draw a parallel between the film’s quarantine and various world events, how easy it is to forget horrors when they fade from public consciousness.

Back in 2002, a group of animal rights activists freed test monkeys from a biological weapons laboratory in Great Britain. Unbeknownst to them, the monkeys were infected with a highly contagious virus which quickly spread throughout the United Kingdom. A handful of people survived and carved out a village on a small island. The infected became man-eating zombies. Now, 28 Years Later, it’s the alive vs the living dead. You don’t need to have seen the previous two films to understand and enjoy 28 Years Later. 28 Years Later is a family’s love story and a coming of age drama. It’s about bravery and compassion all while trying to keep one step ahead of ravenous naked zombies.