It's been almost two decades since the last time we saw a film set in the post-apocalyptic world of 28 Days Later – but this week, fans can be transported back to that dystopian version of the UK thanks to Danny Boyle's new instalment.
Already, it's hit huge heights on Rotten Tomatoes, with rave reviews coming in.
We've got you covered! Just consider this your warning that there are obviously full spoilers for both movies ahead.
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28 Days Later recap
Events pick up – as the title suggests – 28 days later, when we are introduced to bicycle courier Jim (Cillian Murphy), who had fallen into a coma in a traffic accident just before the virus broke out and is shocked to awaken from his hospital bed to find the streets of London completely deserted.
Jim and Selena then follow a makeshift signal and encounter taxi driver Frank (Brendan Gleeson) and his young daughter Hannah (Megan Burns), who alert them to a radio broadcast outlining a place of protection and salvation in Manchester, where the quartet duly travel.
It quickly becomes apparent that the supposed sanctuary was nothing but a ruse. The broadcast had been made by Major Henry West (Christopher Eccleston) so that he could try and lure female survivors into sexual slavery – and when Jim and another soldier refuse to go along with this, the latter is shot and Jim manages to escape amid the resulting melee.
Jim, Selena and Hannah try to get away in Frank's cab - although Jim is shot by West as they drive away. Meanwhile, West himself is also killed by Mailer.
In the final scene, we see Jim, Selena and Hannah attempt to gain the attention of a Hawker Hunter jet which is flying overhead – although it is never determined whether they are spotted.
28 Weeks Later recap
Although set in the same post-outbreak universe, the events of 28 Weeks Later are narratively unrelated to the first film – at least as far as the characters are concerned. The film introduces us to Don Harris (Robert Carlyle), who we see escaping on a boat early on after his wife Alice (Catherine McCormack) and other survivors become infected during the initial outbreak.
After they are reunited with their father in a safe zone, they sneak out to visit their old home and are surprised to find their presumed dead mother alive, though in a delirious state. It turns out that she was immune to the virus but still carries it, which Don discovers when he kisses her and becomes infected himself – going on to kill her before embarking on a deadly rampage.
View oEmbed on the source websiteEventually, forces begin to firebomb the whole zone, with Scarlet, Tammy, Andy and two other survivors including Delta Force sniper Doyle (Jeremy Renner) and a man named Sam escaping to London, where they are followed by Don. After an action-packed few scenes in London that sees Sam infected and Doyle burned alive, the surviving trio shelter in the London Underground.
28 Weeks Later ending explained
Although it initially seems that we are getting a happy ending, the film actually ends on a major cliffhanger: in the final moments, we see a group of infected seen emerging from a Paris Metro station near the Eiffel Tower, suggesting that the virus has now spread to Paris.
"What was unique about the first film and was the best choice we ever made about it was that it featured entirely British," Boyle told Collider during a recent interview.
He added: "And we decided to concentrate on that. There’s nothing wrong with 28 Weeks Later. We just decided not to follow those story elements. And it’s a bold choice we decided to declare up front by saying the Rage Virus was driven back from mainland Europe."
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