28 Years Later: The Bone Temple Review: End of the Old, Birth of the New

Since the massive success of revisionist not-a-zombie zombie flick 28 Days Later in 2002, the franchise has always been fundamentally disinterested in the infected themselves, having added little to their nature since the original idea of them being driven by rage rather than hunger. As the fourth film overall and second in the ongoing new trilogy, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple therefore takes a wide and wild turn because a large portion of its narrative is dedicated to the previously unasked question: What is it like to be one of the infected?

This seemingly essential question is answered in the burgeoning and unlikely friendship between the iodine-drenched Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) and the gigantic and very, very naked infected Alpha he has named Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry). First seen in 2025’s 28 Years Later, and now strung out on the good doctor’s sedative darts, they wander toward some kind of understanding in the shadow of Kelson’s titular open-air ossuary.

Nearby, the other wanderer from 28 Years Later, young Spike (Alfie Williams), is now caught up with the merciless Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell) and his equally violent gang of Jimmys, a small cadre who wander the land inflicting hideous tortures on any uninfected unlucky enough to cross their paths.

In some ways, the Kelson/Samson plotline seems like a diversion from creator and screenwriter Alex Garland’s underlying intent in the series, to dismantle British nostalgia and romanticism. However, Kelson stands as the only character who has truly accepted that the old world is dead. 28 Years Later was a metaphor for Brexit-era little Britain, with the survivors retreating to the isle of Lindisfarne to foolishly re-create a lost era of hearth and home. Here, Jimmy and his band of Jimmys are stuck in a perpetual amoral infancy, quoting Teletubbies and dressing like …

Well.

Garland has always been a fearless and confrontational storyteller, but it’s hard to believe that he didn’t blanch at the end of his own script for 28 Years Later when taking on The Bone Temple. The Jimmys are dressed like ubiquitous UK TV host, DJ, and serial child rapist Jimmy Savile, and the instinctual gut reaction for anyone British on seeing that signature bottle-blond hair, track suit, and gold chains was raw disgust. (For American audiences, imagine if the gang turned up in Cosby-style sweaters, eating pudding cups.) It’s impossible for this sequel to pretend that never happened, but director Nia DaCosta and Garland seemingly do their best to turn a blind eye to the symbolism put in place. Either that, or Garland just thought he was being edgy, and that would be unforgivable.

However, DaCosta generally does not engage with the profoundly British nature of the story, instead leaning into a broader discussion of good and evil, with the Jimmys having taken up Satanism as well as parkour (although they seem to have forgotten their bouncing skills in between chapters). She seems to relish the extremities of the situation, whether it be more gore than the series has ever seen before, or outlandish characters. Williams is often overshadowed by O’Connell, which is not surprising in that he’s such a vile caricature of a man, but it’s also because there’s little for him to do than cower. Yet DaCosta finds new elements of pathos and even comedy, both centered around Fiennes’ tragicomic performance as the man closing the book on that last chapter of history. This is the DaCosta who stormed through festivals with her debut feature, Little Woods, rather than the director who was seemingly stripped of all uniqueness by the studio misfires of Candyman and The Marvels. She may divert the series from its withering dissection of the green and pleasant land’s self-image, but her absurdist perspective on this inherently absurd franchise is still undeniably entertaining.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

2026, R, 109 min. Directed by Nia DaCosta. Starring Ralph Fiennes, Jack O’Connell, Alfie Williams, Chi Lewis-Parry, Erin Kellyman.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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