IT’S been 23 years since Danny Boyle’s iconic 28 Days Later hit the cinemas.
Some of you may not even have been born then, but for those of us who were you no doubt will recall the zombie apocalypse thriller which put chills up everyone’s spines.
A youthful Cillian Murphy was the central character of the film.
He played delivery driver Jim who woke up from a coma in a London hospital 28 days after the outbreak of a deadly virus which had subsumed the country.
Danny Boyle guides Aaron Taylor-Johnson on the set of 28 Years LaterNaomie Harris and Brendan Gleeson were there too.
The ‘rage’ virus had taken over Britain and civilisation had collapsed.
There were only a few survivors left roaming what was left of the country, which was now littered with the blood-thirsty infected.
Written by Alex Garland and directed by Boyle, this was terrifying stuff.
Humans hunting humans. Life as we know it gone in a matter of days.
There are terrifying new variants of infected in 28 Years LaterThe world that modern civilisation had worked so hard to build, Boyle had reduced to nothing.
There was no law, no rules, no authorities. All that mattered was staying alive.
It was ground-breaking in its ability to scare the bejeesus out of us while sending a clear political message too.
There but for the grace of God go us, if we can’t keep a handle on the darker side of humanity and the order that we have constructed to live within.
Now, 23 actual years later, Boyle has done it again.
He is back to tell the tale of what happens when zombies take over, but there is an underlying message about the dangers of nationalism, isolationism and some pretty pointed Brexit references too.
Newcomer Alfie Williams and movie icon Ralph Fiennes give standout performances in the filmIn 28 Years Later we have a set of new characters, but the story is directly linked to the original.
We meet survivors of the rage and we meet the infected too, in far greater and even more grotesque detail.
Over the years the disease has evolved and there are a range of terrifying new variants of infected.
There are ‘fast ones’, slow ones’ and now there are ‘alphas’ too, which boast way more power and cunning than the undead that you will recall from the first film.
Boyle and Garland are both back on board for this film, which is the first instalment of a planned trilogy.
In it they offer a deep dive into the impact the virus has had on Britian, where an island society has formed away from the infected mainland – which is now under international quarantine.
Alfie Williams, Jodie Comer and Ralph Fiennes star in Boyle's epic sequelThe rest of the world has seemingly moved on, relatively unaffected, and left Britain to its own plight (which is pretty much Brexit in a nutshell).
All that they must do is police the borders to ensure no one can leave the island.
That doesn’t stop people going in however, and one family’s decision to make the dangerous journey to the heart of the infected mainland comes with horrific consequences.
This is true horror in all its bloody glory, and it comes with an uber-accomplished cast – including Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes and Alfie Williams - who more than do it justice.
In 28 Years Later Boyle and Garland have produced an epic extension on their zombie franchise.
Luckily for us, as the first instalment of a trilogy, there is much more still to come.
