Look deeper into the evil and enlightenment at the end of the world with Nia DaCosta’s enthralling 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.
Last year horror fans were treated to the return of one of the quintessential zombie franchises in the form of 28 Years Later. Director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland brought their signature brand of zombie storytelling to modern times. Not only was the film received positively, but it was almost immediately announced that it would be the first in a new trilogy. The next film in that trilogy, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, is under the care of Nia DaCosta and has arrived exactly 28 weeks from the first in the trilogy.
Picking up almost immediately after the events of the previous film, we find ourselves following the stories of two groups that we are already familiar with. Spike (Alfie Williams) is now living amongst the blonde wig-wearing gang that rescued him and are beginning to show their cult-like personality. Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell) leads a group of lost and submissive teenagers (who he refers to as his “fingers”) who he preaches to about the importance of survival of the fittest. Jimmy believes that he’s the son of Satan and proclaims that his actions are all the will of his father. With that will, Jimmy invokes a traumatic and frightening experience that shows just how far-gone humanity has become.
Meanwhile, Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) is continuing his research on the alpha zombie named Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry) and trying to learn about the rage virus that has taken over the world. Using drug-infused blow darts, Dr. Kelson sedates Samson enough to be able to study his body and expose him to music and nature and human connection. What Dr. Kelson is beginning to believe is that the rage virus has a psychological aspect to it, causing the host to have some sort of awareness. Sadly, that’s blocked by any threatening situation and causes the host to become violent and kill whoever it deems a threat. Day after day Samson keeps coming back and allowing himself to be sedated, giving Dr. Kelson a sense of companionship that he hasn’t had in decades.
Digging deeper.
Photo Credit: Sony Pictures
The miracle of 28 Years Later is how it takes the aspects of the original two films and adapted them to the modern-day horror audience. While the first film in this new trilogy set the tone and the environment, The Bone Temple dives deeper into the characters we met and the state of the world we skimmed through last time around. Garland (returning to pen the script) and DaCosta do well taking the basis of the previous film and bringing so much depth and life into the world. The use of specific songs in specific scenes make for some truly memorable and unexpectedly fun sequences in the middle of the darkness and gore.
The Bone Temple also allows its cast to have their moment to shine and grow as characters. Fiennes and O’Connell give 100% of their emotion and determination, and it comes through on screen. O’Connell plays a genuinely terrifying and evil man who you can never quite tell if he’s delusional, manipulative, or both. The way he carries himself and commands the teenagers to do his bidding is brutal and sickening. Fiennes continues his stand-out performance from 28 Years Later as an already sensitive, empathetic, and scholarly man and turns the spotlight on his feelings and his beliefs that the virus isn’t the end of humanity. He completely lets himself go in scenes where he dances and sings (it makes sense when you see it) before becoming a quiet and emotional human in softer moments while connecting with Samson.
The third aspect of The Bone Temple that really spoke to me is how it handled the zombie virus. If you’ve seen any form of zombie media, you know the general explanation of what caused the zombie outbreak: virus/mutation that spreads globally, kills a large portion of the population, and allows their body to roam the world spreading the virus. We very rarely see anyone try to or successfully cure the zombies. The Bone Temple is one of the few to break that tradition, showing the testing and what seems to be something of a cure. Dr. Kelson spends the film trying to sedate and study Samson because he truly believes that there is still a human being somewhere inside his body. It’s one of the few rays of light in an otherwise grim post-apocalypse and a welcome change of pace from typical undead undertakings onscreen.
The bottom line.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is a worthy and capable addition to a franchise that holds a special pace in the hearts of horror fans worldwide. It takes what made the previous film from last year so successful and digs into each character and location to find a completely new storyline that other zombie projects haven’t explored before. Fans who sit through this dire epic and come out breathless after its climax will be happy to know that the third film in the trilogy is on the way. Count the days.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is now playing in theaters everywhere. Watch the trailer here.
Images courtesy of Sony Pictures. Read more articles by Tyler Carlsen here.
REVIEW RATING
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28 Years Later: The Bone Temple - 9/10
9/10
From a young age, Tyler has been amazed by filmmaking and writing. When he’s not watching movies in theaters, he also enjoys playing video games and binging one of the numerous shows he’s watching at any given moment. Working with The Young Folks was a highlight of his writing career and he is looking forward to this new adventure with In Between Drafts!
