28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2025) Review!!

Synopsis – Taking place after the events of the first film, Spike is inducted into Sir Jimmy Crystal and his gang of acrobatic killers in a post-apocalyptic England ravaged by the Rage Virus. Meanwhile, Dr. Ian Kelson uncovers a deadly discovery that will have consequences that could alter the world.

My Take – There is no doubt that director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland shattered expectations with 28 Days Later (2003), a film that not only introduced the rage virus as the erratic new zombified threat for the human population, but also felt immediately different as a raw, unsettling, and truly genre-defining experience in the zombie-horror space.

Though its more action-focused sequel, 28 Weeks Later (2007) was comparatively less warmly received, last year saw director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland return with a bold, fresh, and fantastical third installment that successfully transcended the grimier aspects of the genre to unearth something gnarly and sublime, while also delivering an excellent and touching coming-of-age tale in the picturesque wilderness, away from the grim carnage of a city decimated by a rampaging virus.

For this immediate follow-up, which arrives just six months later, in a surprise move, director Boyle entrusts the reins of directing to American filmmaker Nia DaCosta (Candyman, The Marvels) to build on the groundwork established previously and grow the saga with sensational daring and depth.

Thankfully, with screenwriter Alex Garland still on board, the film not just further explores its complex characters with a surprising amount of tenderness and sincerity mixed with abject terror and sadness, but also takes the already unpredictable franchise into entirely unexpected territories. As a sequel, it builds the saga of Spike without retreading its predecessor’s steps, as a zombie flick, it delivers scenes of gut-churning violence and haunting loss, and as a horror film, it is sublime, gorgeous, rich in visual splendor, surging with feeling, and intoxicating in its unexpected twists.

Simply put, this one is a phenomenal film and honestly, I was enchanted for every single minute.

Sure, it feels like a step down from its predecessor, yet despite being a fourth entry it succeeds in offering a new perspective in the post-apocalyptic zombie sphere with equal parts empathy and brutality that harkens back to the first film in a series. As a longtime fan of the franchise, the conclusion to this solid trilogy in this franchise just cannot come soon enough.

Picking up mere moments after 28 Years Later (2025) ended, the story once again follows the 12-year-old Spike (Alfie Williams), who after leaving the quarantined safety of Holy Island off England’s north-east coast for the zombie-infested mainland finds himself initiated into the Fingers gang, a cult of serial killers, all stripped of their original names and now called Jimmy, led by the bizarre yet charismatic Satanist “Sir Lord” Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell), and includes the more empathetic Jimmy Ink (Erin Kellyman) and the sadistic Jimmima (Emma Laird).

While the infected continue to hunt, kill, and devour any uninfected mortal in their path, it is Jimmy’s grotesque ideology and methods that inflict the deepest scars on Spike. Though he wants to survive, he is unable to buy into the Jimmys’ ideology even with his life on the line. Forcing him to get repeatedly tested, with the fear of receiving a harsh judgment always a possibility.

Meanwhile, Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), the former GP whose weird orange skin (the result of iodine self-treatment) and unusual deportment is fatefully misunderstood by everyone, continues to tend to his eponymous bone temple and tries to come to terms with the alpha zombie rampaging around the place, a giant he has named Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry).

Believing that there may be something inside his head (psychologically) that may be the key to overcoming not just the Infected, but also the 28-year-old infection.

Here, director Nia DaCosta films her sequel in a more straightforward manner than compared to its predecessor and somehow is able to make this fully her own vision without losing any ground from what has come before (and what will come after). She continues to wrestle with the theme of isolation explored earlier in the series, while also introducing the interplay of violence and faith (or lack thereof) in a compelling way that doesn’t come across as pretentious and preachy. She continues to prove she’s one to command a screen with her combined skill set of being precise and a master of tonal balance.

Though this world is set in a dystopian time, writer Garland‘s script allows the characters to breathe and explore thoughts we all have but may be too busy to actually think about. And no matter how much action or zombie related horror goes on around them, the horrors brought on from human to human are always the scariest of all.

Director DaCosta and writer Garland seemed to have made a conscious effort to preserve the franchise’s high-tension horror by doubling down on the gore and relentless bloodshed. Several scenes are so gut-wrenching and depraved that one genuinely wonders how they were cleared.

Yes, it does possess the director Boyle‘s visual flair or iPhone cinematography as its much more classically structured, but the violence and kills are unreal, and certainly not for the faint-hearted. While some may say the first kill is played for laughs, I actually think it’s horrific in how it highlights how the Jimmy’s are ruthless, and life truly means nothing to them in a world with seemingly so little human life.

Yet the sequence that had me as a viewer not only awestruck first, but then applauding and cheering afterwards, was one of a dance performance. It was an extraordinary surprise, and the thrill of it surged in my heart and stung my vision with tears for the sheer excitement.

Performance wise, Ralph Fiennes once again plays the morally driven doctor with his trademark finesse, brandishing the same eerie and enigmatic behavior that made his character such a high point in last year’s film, and this time with more of a near-childlike enthusiasm for interacting with others. His dance to Iron Maiden’s The Number of the Beast is basically one of the most extraordinary moments of his career.

Alfie Williams continues to impress as Spike, effectively portraying vulnerability and resilience in equal measure. Chi Lewis-Parry is incredible throughout, going from the rage-fueled heavy to a much subtler, engaging take on an evolving zombie. Erin Kellyman complements Spike’s struggle with a quietly assured and impactful turn, as Emma Laird‘s turn makes her the most performative of the lot, particularly with Teletubbies-inspired dances.

However, it is Jack O’Connell who leaves the strongest impression. Bringing an unhinged energy to Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal, striking the perfect balance between the charismatic, jovial cult leader and the terrifying, psychopathic man-child who insists on having his way no matter the consequences. On the whole, ‘28 Years Later: The Bone Temple‘ is a gruesome and fabulously made horror follow-up that justifies its place within the exhilarating zombie saga.