28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE (2026)

Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Nia DaCosta​​​
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Jack O'Connell, Alfie Williams, Erin Kellyman, Chi Lewis-Parry
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Rating: R21 (Strong Violence & Some Nudity)
Released By: Walt Disney
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 15 January 2026

Synopsis: Expanding upon the world created by Danny Boyle and Alex Garland in 28 Years Later but turning that world on its head - Nia DaCosta directs 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. In a continuation of the epic story, Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) finds himself in a shocking new relationship - with consequences that could change the world as they know it - and Spike's (Alfie Williams) encounter with Jimmy Crystal (Jack O'Connell) becomes a nightmare he can't escape. In the world of The Bone Temple, the infected are no longer the greatest threat to survival - the inhumanity of the survivors can be stranger and more terrifying.

Movie Review:

If ’28 Days Later’ was about survival, ’28 Years Later’ is about redemption.

Reviving their flesh-eating zombie saga for a new generation, Danny Boyle and Alex Garland had explored how the survivors of that calamity had forged on with life in their own ways. As we saw in last year’s ’28 Years Later’, even if the virus had not infected some physiologically, there were many who were psychologically infected, choosing to reinterpret the zombie apocalypse to unleash their own twisted fantasies.

Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’ Connell) is one such individual that we had briefly encountered at the end of that movie. Even though he and his cult of teen disciples, all in ratty blond-white wigs, tracksuits and garish jewellery, had rescued our 12-year-old protagonist Spike (Alfie Williams) from a group of the infected, it was clear there was something off about Jimmy and his pack of ‘Jimmys’.

As Spike learns, Jimmy has convinced his band of followers that he is the son of Satan – he calls him ‘Old Nick’ – and that he has been sent by his father on a mission of ‘charity’, by which he means subjecting whomever they encounter to horrible acts of torture. Thankfully, not all the ‘Jimmys’ have been brainwashed. Jimmy finds a kindred spirit in fellow doubter Ink (Erin Kellyman), and without giving too much away, let’s just say that their alliance will pay off very nicely at the end.

 The other prong in Garland’s story focuses on Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), whom you may recall had given Spike’s cancer-stricken mother in the previous movie a moving sendoff. The former general practitioner remains obsessed with the alpha zombie Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry), and spends much of his time trying to see if he can commune with the beast by injecting the latter with morphine. If the virus unleashes unbridled rage from within the infected, then perhaps by tranquilising Samson, it could remove the fog clouding his reason and restraint.

It is not difficult to guess whether Dr. Kelson’s theory pans out, but more than just a convenient narrative trope about the search for a cure, this arc continues Garland’s philosophical interrogations about rediscovering and preserving one’s humanity and empathy even amidst savagery. Thankfully, like Boyle did, Nia DaCosta handles it with deep poignancy – indeed, it is to her credit that we appreciate the symbolism in Dr. Kelson and Samson sitting in the moonlight looking up at the stars or even sharing a dance together to the euphoric synths of Duran Duran’s “Rio”.

It is also not hard to see that Jimmy and Dr. Kelson are intended as opposites at the heart of a simple but compelling theme that runs through the movie – what exactly makes us human? DaCosta rewards her audience’s patience over the course of detailing these two contrasting characters with an ecstatic climax that will have you clapping uproariously (at least we know we did!). Oh yes, Dr. Kelson’s display of heavy-metal bravado is worth the price of admission alone, and we dare say the twist at the end of his performance is one of the most memorable displays of glorious irony we’ve seen in a very long while.

Not since Lord Voldemort has Fiennes found such a defining character, and it is no hyperbole to proclaim that he is the very heart and soul of the movie. While the showstopper finale will probably be the most-talked about, Fiennes goes far beyond showmanship to deliver an incredibly layered performance that makes you feel deeply the anguish of a man struggling to hold on to what life once was and ought to stand for. And in that regard, it is utterly befitting that the movie is named after the “memento mori” that Dr. Kelson had built for the infected and uninfected dead.

Casting O’Connell alongside Fiennes also pays off beautifully here, with DaCosta playing one against the other to exhilarating effect especially in the finale. O’Connell, who also played a delicious antagonist in last year’s ‘Sinners’, gladly laps up the chance to lean into another unpredictably evil figure and delivers a wickedly frightening turn. It also helps that DaCosta eschews the frenetic, punk shooting style that Boyle had adopted in the previous movie to allow us to ponder the deeper psychology behind the behaviour of these people who have carved out a life in virus-ravaged England.

There has been no shortage of zombie movies in recent years, and we’re glad in reviving the ’28 Days Later’ franchise that Boyle and Garland have decided to go beyond the visceral thrill of humans trying to outrun zombies to probe at the very heart of what makes us human in such circumstances. Like we said at the beginning, if ’28 Days Later’ was about survival, ’28 Years Later’ is about redemption, and with ‘The Bone Temple’, the series delivers its most poignant and emotionally cathartic entry yet, with a powerful message about how humanity is ultimately a choice to be kind, to be compassionate and to have empathy, even if the world has gone to shits. 

Movie Rating:

(Both vicious and deeply poignant, this meditation on the meaning of humanity amidst savagery is a beautiful affirmation of how being kind, being compassionate and showing empathy are the choices that define us)

Review by Gabriel Chong