Review - 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Spoiler-free)

'28 Years Later' (2025) began in the Scottish Highlands with a household succumbing to the savagery of the Rage Virus, all whilst the 'Teletubbies' played innocently in the background. Blood splattering the screen, infected mothers hungry for their kin's flesh and rabid bodies flying across church pews. Fast forward 2 hours, and the film ends with the reintroduction of 'Jimmy' (Jack O'Connell), a survivor from the opening scene, who now heads a cult of acrobatic survivors, The Jimmies, who terrorise whoever they happen upon like a vicious gang. In between was a film that was incredibly true to director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland's signature style, where high energy and intense stylisation meet character-driven plot lines. This, combined with an avid world-building/sequel-paving flair, made 28 Years Later a welcome horror into the budding '28' franchise. 

 '28 Years Later: The Bone Temple' picks up shortly after where the last film left off, with Spike (Alfie Williams), the once shy but still brave young boy, being initiated into Jimmy, or 'Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal's' group. The clique goes about destroying what is left of mankind, including raiding a farm occupied by innocent survivors, eventually enacting one of the most barbaric acts that the 28 films have ever shown, all of which is ordered by the indecipherably cruel Jimmy. This is where The Bone Temple deserves its first point of praise. As it was made clear in its predecessor, Jimmy Crystal is seemingly modelled after disgraced British television icon Jimmy Savile. Although it was rumoured for decades, the 2010s saw Savile be outed to the nation as a perverse abuser who used his connections and power to worm his way to victims, whilst simultaneously staying out of trouble. Essentially, the veil of doubt was lifted, and a monster was exposed, albeit posthumously. 

Garland and Boyle have spoken briefly about this interesting and almost baffling choice, with the pair commenting on how the Jimmy's represent a cultural regression, particularly in how nostalgia is often cherry-picked. The Jimmy's reflect how collective silence and misguided, blind allegiance can alter blatant acts of brutal exploitation and injustice into a normalised transaction, a given right to the perpetrator. All of this is continually exhibited throughout The Bone Temple, with Jimmy hailing himself as almost god-like, free of the shackles of a just society, where he is allowed to roam freely as an untouchable tormentor. 

The Bone Temple takes Jimmy's delusions of grandeur and centralises a large portion of the story around it, acting as a catalyst for Spike's navigational voyage of learning about the evils that haunt the world outside of the rage virus. The backbone of zombie horror is the overdone trope surrounding humans being more ravenous than the undead/infected/cursed creatures. The Bone Temple is no exception to this rule; however, how exactly the film does this is where director Nia DaCosta earns major brownie points. Whilst Jimmy plays a major role both literally and figuratively, another key character is the return of the empathic Dr Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), whose tending to the infected has reached a whole new level. 

Whilst Jimmy, Spike and the rest of the tracksuit-clad gang forge their own significance in The Bone Temple, Kelson is still on his mission of tending to his ossuary, the memento mori of those ravaged by the virus; however, he begins to discover the evolution of the plague that paves the way for what should be an epic finale film. Kelson is fuelled by his passion for humanity, with The Bone Temple taking some truly valiant steps in fleshing out the role of his fascination, which is physically manifested by the Alpha zombie 'Samson' (Chi-Lewis Parry). The Bone Temple really reaches into Kelson's monastic lifestyle, with the film gradually making the viewer understand his beliefs, which seemed like a once impossible task considering the horrid wreckage audiences have witnessed caused by the infected over the various films. 

It is here where The Bone Temple exercises its unique tone. The film works on a tightrope of two halves. The Jimmy's sully the human existence, whereas Dr Kelson and his journey with Samson seek hope, representing dignity amongst monstrosities. The dichotomy of the two sides of humanity reaches a fascinating peak during one sequence involving Kelson making use of his treasured record collection. On a similar note, one of The Bone Temple's further points of commendation is the scoring, whose use of soundtrack songs by Duran Duran, Iron Maiden and Radiohead, along with original compositions from Hildur Guðnadóttir, makes for some genuinely epic scenes. 

Whilst a firm favourite for some, some elements could understandably be less welcoming to fans of the series, particularly, how much The Bone Temple switches gears compared to its predecessors. Yet, there is one element that is completely difficult to find fault with: the performances. O'Connell, Fiennes and Parry fuse to form a cinematic trinity of excellence. O'Connell is electric as Jimmy, with the actor being convincingly wretched, to the point of creating a sense of lingering dread over his heinous persona. Fiennes is fantastic as per usual, which is no surprise considering his longstanding success and admiration in the industry. Lastly is Parry. When Samson first appeared in 28 Years Later, it was impossible to fathom that this gargantuan beast would become a firm fan favourite, all of which is down to Parry's ability to deliver a haunting, vulnerable and nefarious performance. 

With all its praise, The Bone Temple does suffer one glaring drawback. It is admittedly almost an exercise in reductive criticism to continually pit an original film against its successors. However, like major movie series such as 'Halloween' (1978) and 'Scream' (1996), the original is nearly always impossible to beat. The benchmark set 23 years ago by 28 Days Later is unattainable, with the film remaining utterly terrifying in every single aspect. For every zombie chase sequence that The Bone Temple exhibits, nothing can surpass the scene where Jim (Cillian Murphy) and his fellow survivors must race against time, changing a tyre in an abandoned tunnel, or when he encounters a rabid priest, or even when the malevolent truth is learned about the group of soldiers. The Bone Temple brings a whole new banquet of themes and elements to the table, but the raw impact of the original film will always reign supreme. 

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