REVIEW BY: Darren Zakus - 1/13/26

RATING 3.5 out of 5

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple challenges viewers with a central question that finds a truth more terrifying than the infected landscape of the English countryside, that under the masterful direction of Nia DaCosta who deploys restraint to allow the humanity at the centre of the story to ring loudly throughout, allows Ralph Fiennes and Jack O’Connell to excel in their performances and deliver another profound and unique film in the revered horror franchise.

When Jack O’Connell made his franchise debut in the final scene of 28 Years Later as Jimmy Crystal with his gang of hoodlums, there was a cultural divide amongst viewers. Audiences outside of the United Kingdom were perplexed as to who these crazy people in colourful hoodies doing acrobatic flips across the screen were while killing infected, but those within the United Kingdom felt a chill go down the spine. They immediately recognized the appearance of infamous Jimmy Savile, the English media personality who turned out to be one of the country’s most prolific, predatory sex offenders who targeted both young children and elderly victims. And this chilling truth is merely a small fraction of what writer Alex Garland and director Nia DaCosta have to say in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. With the commanding performances of both O’Connell and Ralph Fiennes at the forefront of the film, DaCosta is able to explore both the nature of human violence and human kindness to create a thematically rich film that is never short of the shocking and gory moments this franchise has become known for, creating an intricate psychological horror film that never for a second fails to disappoint. 

While 28 Years Later was a moving coming of age story set within a zombie ridden England, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple shifts the focus from Alfie Williams’ Spike to Fiennes’s Dr. Kelson and his relationship with Samson, the infected alpha, and O’Connell’s Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal, giving a far more intense and contemplative film than its predecessor. With the infected taking a back seat in terms of action, though never forgotten thanks to a fascinating storyline featuring Samson, the audience is posed with the question of who is more dangerous: an infected individual with the capability for kindness, or a non-infected addicted to violence as a means of controlling the weak and bolstering his reign in the absence of a societal structure? It’s a terrifying juxtaposition that fills the film’s first two acts, with Sir Jimmy’s unpredictable and sadistic actions used to control and spread fear as he makes the wasteland his dominion. The character of Jimmy properly echoes the sickening actions of Jimmy Savile to create a revered figure amongst his followers (the self-named Jimmys) while taking it to an even sicker level in this lawless world, as Spike finds himself in a far more frightening predicament than the infected wasteland of the previous film. It’s a jarring difference from the relationship of Dr. Kelson and Samson that play out at the same time, finding a quiet beauty in their connection as they get high on opioids, dancing to Duran Duran, while building ideas that will likely become pivotal to the trilogy’s concluding chapter. 

Even though the individual storylines could have been pushed further in the first two acts to drastically show the difference between Samson and the Jimmy’s, the placeholders for kindness and pure evil in the script, the culmination of this thematic exploration comes to an exciting fruition in the final act. The pivotal set piece itself is jaw dropping, balancing the absurdity of the moment with the chilling themes that come to a head, letting not only Fiennes go all out with his performance, but also the film’s visual stylings to create a hypnotic experience for viewers. Alongside the Memento Amoris sequence in 28 Years Later, this set piece is without question one of the franchise’s best scenes, while DaCosta and Garland make their statement about which is more powerful: human kindness or pure evil. And following in the footsteps of the previous film, the final scene lays the groundwork for the final entry for this trilogy, teasing a new and exciting direction that will no doubt have long time fans of the series eagerly anticipating the concluding chapter of the 28 Years Later trilogy.

What audiences will most remember about this film, aside from its two pivotal scenes, are the performances of Fiennes and O’Connell. With a far larger role than in the previous film, Fiennes is nothing short of magnificent as Dr. Ian Kelson, finding tranquility in Kelson’s search for answers about the Rage virus and how it affects humans, while creating a touching connection with Chi Lewis-Parry’s Samson. Though never short on the powerful darkness that Fiennes has long shown in his past performances, notably in the film’s final act, his work in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is profoundly moving and never misses capturing the vast range of the emotion of the film’s central ideas. O’Connell, on the other hand, is nothing short of chilling as Jimmy Crystal, continuing to prove himself the go-to casting choice for a horror movie villain. With an unhinged glee and tyrannical rule over his cult of followers, O’Connell twists each moment to create a character that embodies pure evil and revels in the chaos of his character’s actions, as Jimmy manipulates those around him to maintain his control in this lawless world. Alfie Williams is good again as Spike and shares some touching moments alongside Erin Kellyman’s Jimmy Ink as Spike tries to navigate and escape the madness of the Jimmys, but with the screenplay hyper focused on Dr. Kelson and Jimmy Crystal, Williams takes a back seat in this middle chapter.