Warning: This post contains spoilers for 28 Years Later.
28 Years Later, the long-awaited third entry in the post-apocalyptic horror franchise that kicked off nearly a quarter century ago with 2002’s revolutionary 28 Days Later, has finally arrived in theaters. And with it, a new breed of terrifyingly fast-moving infected.
Although 28 Years is technically the third film in the series, it takes the story in a different direction than what was suggested by the ending of the original sequel, 2007’s 28 Weeks Later. Instead of the Rage Virus becoming an international contagion, it’s revealed the disease’s spread was ultimately contained to the UK, where survivors were left to figure things out on their own as the rest of the world moved on. That switch-up is likely due to the fact that, although 28 Days director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland served as executive producers on 28 Weeks, 28 Years marks the first time the duo has returned to the saga in their initial creative capacity.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]The new movie centers on 12-year-old Spike (Alfie Williams), who travels beyond the borders of his home on Holy Island—an isolated community connected to the UK mainland solely by a tidal causeway—for the first time for a hunting trip with his father, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). It’s during this harrowing outing that Spike learns about the existence of Alphas, a strain of infected that have evolved to be much larger and stronger, as well as Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), a mysterious survivor who Spike believes may be able to cure his sick mother, Isla (Jodie Comer).
While Spike and Jamie both make it back to Holy Island alive, once home, Spike grows disillusioned with his dad after seeing him cheat on his mom during an over-the-top celebration of Spike’s hunting prowess. He decides to sneak his mom off the island in order to seek help from Dr. Kelson, though Isla’s illness has resulted in her suffering from severe migraines and lapses in sanity, making their journey all the more difficult. On the road, Spike and Isla encounter a number of threats. But their most dangerous run-in occurs when Isla helps a pregnant infected give birth to a—surprise—non-infected baby girl and the newborn’s father, an Alpha referred to as Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry), shows up to claim her. Luckily, Dr. Kelson arrives in the nick of time to rescue them by shooting Samson with a tranquilizer dart.
After examining Isla, Kelson concludes she likely has cancer that has spread to her brain and while he can’t do anything to save her life, he can end her misery by helping her to commit assisted suicide. With his mom gone, Spike briefly returns to Holy Island to leave the baby in his father’s care with a note explaining where she came from and why Spike has chosen to strike out on his own.
28 Years Later may seem like it’s wrapping up as Spike begins his solo pilgrimage across the mainland. But the movie actually has a final twist up its sleeve in the form of a tonally jarring epilogue that sets up the forthcoming Nia DaCosta-directed sequel, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. A third film, again helmed by Boyle, will then follow.
Read More: Why the 28 Years Later Franchise Has Always Been About More Than Zombies
How does 28 Years Later end?
Harkening back to the movie’s cold open, which saw a young boy named Jimmy (Rocco Haynes) escape the infected’s slaughter of his family during the initial outbreak of the Rage Virus, the final scene of 28 Years features a now-adult Jimmy (Jack O’Connell) and his gang of followers rescuing Spike from a group of infected 28 days after he leaves Holy Island behind for good.
The Jimmies, as they refer to themselves, are all sporting vibrant tracksuits and garish jewelry, and rely on a series of parkour-esque moves to kill the infected. The sequence is a bizarre departure from the mood of the rest of the movie and feels like a pretty odd note to leave things on, to say the least. But there are also hints throughout the film that Jimmy is looming large, first in the form of an infected man strung up in an abandoned house who has Jimmy’s name carved into his flesh and later in a mysterious ode to Jimmy scratched into a wall.
Whatever role Jimmy and his apparent cult are going to play in Spike’s coming-of-age tale won’t be revealed until The Bone Temple hits theaters in January 2026. But Boyle says fans can expect a “battle over the nature of evil” that, in the third film, will eventually lead to a “bigger story about redemption” centered on the return of Cillian Murphy’s Jim from 28 Days Later.
Until then, “memento mori,” as Dr. Kelson would say.
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