Ayo! It’s time to go on a post-apocalyptic coming-of-age journey through a fever dream fairytale land filled with giant muscled freaks that love to hang dong, a traumatized bald orange man, a temple of bones, brain cancer, crazy cinematography, the mighty morphin’ power violence street team, artisan DIY spinal cord removals, and weird fat baby zombies… yeah, this movie was a trip! It’s the “28 Years Later” pod! Be warned: SPOILERS AHEAD!
Danny Boyle and Alex Garland (our guys) are back together again after many years to direct the third film in the "28 Days" franchise, and boy, did they come to push the envelope. Taking the story in a totally new, bizarre, emotional, and gory direction that has our heads spinning, we can only salute them for having the minerals to flip the script and swing for the fences. This movie does not go the way you might expect it to, and is, in many ways, antithetical to the second film in the series. We loved it.
Released just last month, this hallucinogenic fever dream nightmare of a film sequel stars Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Alfie Williams (in his feature film debut), and Ralph Fiennes. With amazing cinematography, great performances, wild violence, excellent world-building, and innovative technical choices (much like the original), this sequel balances following in the thematic and narrative footsteps of the previous films while striking a unique mix of genres and paving the way forward in a new version of this world with new characters impeccably.
Does this film have some flaws? Yeah, no doubt. The ending will be decisive. There are some moments of glaring plot armour or a collection of odd choices from the characters that might require you to suspend your disbelief a little harder than normal. With that being said, it also has an Alpha ripping a deer’s head clean off with its bare hands and then displaying the skull and spinal cord on a tree. This sequence is shot in blood red night vision. Horrifying stuff.
This movie crackles with originality and intention that is often missing from legacy sequels and, as previously mentioned, swings for the fences even as the film comes to a close. We loved the fact that we had no idea where it was going as we were watching it, which made for one hell of a ride. Also, shout out to that couple that left because they couldn’t handle the copious amounts of Alpha hog being swung around on screen.
Anyway, we share our thoughts on the film, break down what we loved, explore some of its flaws, and discuss where we think the story will go in the upcoming sequel “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple”. This was an excellent time at the movies. Don’t sleep on it if you’re a freak like us.
We’ll see you next week!
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