By Ranney Willis
The movie poster for 28 Years Later (image via Columbia Pictures)
“28 Years Later” is a horror/thriller directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland that came out on June 20, 2025. The University of Colorado Boulder’s Program Council organized a screening on campus last Friday, so I decided to go and see it for the first time and give my honest review.
Coming into this movie, I was expecting something fresh from a longstanding franchise. “28 years” is the third installment in a series, following 2002’s “28 Days Later” and 2007’s “28 Weeks Later.” Compared to the other two movies, the film feels like night and day.
The first two movies depict the outbreak of the fictional “Rage virus,” which reduces people to a zombie-like state. But while the series’ initial installments portray the struggle to cure the virus, “28 Years Later” depicts a world in which survivors simply fight to live in a Britain overrun by the disease.
When it comes to worldbuilding, I think this movie did a great job. So many small details were included in the movie that I think just amplified the film’s immersion. Britain without civilization is brimming with wildlife. You can see the night sky completely clear because of the lack of light pollution. Whole abandoned towns and cities are left covered in vegetation. So even though Britain has fallen apart, there is a sense that the land is healing.
The world of the film is really sold by its score. Compared to the last two movies, the score, done by the Scottish hip-hop group Young Fathers, feels both haunting and beautiful at the same time. I think the part that best represents this is when Spike makes it to the Bone Temple. The music gives the feeling of loss, struggle and pain watching as Spike’s heart breaks – and then heals.
Other than that there were some parts of the story that felt a little lacking. I was a little hopeful that the movie would follow a similar theme of trying to find a cure for the virus. But it would kind of feel far-fetched, so I think it’s cool that they went in a different direction.
In many ways it felt like a coming of age story. The themes of family are very prevalent. Spike’s relationship with his father feels very abusive. Most of it felt like yelling and trying to toughen Spike up by force. On the other hand Spike’s relationship with his mother feels a lot more caring and nurturing, which makes it that much harder to let her go. In the end Spike finds his own way, outgrowing both his parents and becoming his own person.
I do like that in this movie series they do a different story for every movie with new characters in the same world so it doesn’t feel repetitive. I give it a 4 out of 5. If you haven’t seen the movie yet I highly recommend it.