The mind-and-body-altering Rage virus is back in the post-apocalyptic horror movie 28 Years Later. It follows on from the events of 28 Days Later (2002), which helped popularise the notion of fast 'zombies'. and its sequel, 28 Weeks Later (2007). The first of the films was directed by Oscar winner Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) and scripted by Alex Garland (Civil War), and the two creatives are back at the helm for 28 Years Later.
The official synopsis is as follows: 'It’s been almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory, and now, still in a ruthlessly enforced quarantine, some have found ways to exist amidst the infected. One such group of survivors lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily-defended causeway. When one of the group leaves the island on a mission into the dark heart of the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors as well.'
The first trailer has been revealed, so check it out below and then keep reading to find out more.
1. It's promising another terrifying opening sequence
Let's face it, the Teletubbies have never been as sinister as they are in the 28 Years Later trailer, and they were pretty odd to begin with. Those of a certain vintage, namely the late 90s/early 2000s, will remember the Teletubbies being a dominant cultural force, and this helps contexualise the opening moments of the trailer as an ordinary suburban house bears witness to the initial outbreak of the Rage virus. This places it in the timeline of 28 Days Later.
The trailer also incorporates the 1915 recording of the classic Rudyard Kipling poem 'Boots' to unnerving effect, no doubt alluding to the landscape trekking that features heavily. The recording, by actor Taylor Holmes, is also used (in real life) for military endurance training, so one assumes its incorporation into the trailer is an implicit reference to a new kind of militaristic UK state that has emerged now that Rage has seemingly gone dormant.
The 28 Days/Weeks/Years franchise is famed for its striking and horrific openings. 28 Days Later generated fear from pure silence and isolation as Cillian Murphy's Jim wandered around a post-apocalyptic London in the film's most famous sequence. 28 Weeks Later went to the opposite end of the spectrum, giving us a full-throttle, horrifying opening in which a cottage of survivors is attacked by the infected, resulting in Don (Robert Carlyle), abandoning his wife Alice (Catherine McCormack).
Where will the opening of 28 Years Later fall on this spectrum? Given its apparent focus on children in danger, we can expect it to be seriously disturbing and shocking.
2. The Lindisfarne Holy Island is a key location
Those location reports from earlier this summer are confirmed to be true. Danny Boyle and his crew are making full use of the Holy Island, located off the beautiful coast of Northumberland. It's the ideal place for a post-apocalyptic horror, allowing the rage survivors to shield themselves from humanity via the island and the adjoining causeway. But what if there's an outbreak within the fortress itself? A sanctuary would then become a prison, allowing Boyle and Alex Garland to exploit the physical geography for maximum horrific effect.
Let's not forget that this movie picks up from the ending of 28 Weeks Later, in which the Rage virus was thought to be contained, but eventually spread beyond the shores of Britain to Paris (and presumably beyond). The trailer doesn't give us too much context aside from signs that indicate how humanity has regressed to a rural, almost feral state by living off the land in the wake of the Rage-inflicted devastation. As with 28 Days Later, Boyle and Garland openly wear their literary influences, from John Wyndham to J.G. Ballard, as they present a society on a knife's edge of total collapse.
3. Aaron Taylor-Johnson appears to be the lead
He's soon to be seen in the Sony comic book movie Kraven the Hunter (released December 13th) and Robert Eggers' vampire horror Nosferatu (released January 1st). Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who's also rumoured to be the next James Bond, enjoys his first collaboration with Danny Boyle. On Wikipedia, Taylor-Johnson's character is credited as Jamie and what we can see in the trailer supports co-star Ralph Fiennes' recent description of the plot, namely that it involves a man leading a young boy back to safety and his mother.
We're assuming that the mother is played by Jodie Comer but again, this isn't confirmed and she only appears fragmentarily. It's also not yet clear who Fiennes' shaven-headed character is. 28 Years Later may do the classic post-apocalyptic inversion by showing us how humanity is now more dangerous than the infected. The rampant bone and skull sculptures on display would indicate there's now a lot more than just the virus to worry about.
4. The infected may have mutated
There are quick shots of the back of... something. Whatever it is, it's big and hulking, first glimpsed in the middle of the woods and later seemingly attacking a group of soldiers in an underground environment. Given the reaction shot from actor Edvin Ryding, we're sensing this isn't something that's appeared in the franchise before.
5. Cillian Murphy's Jim re-appears... or does he? And is he a zombie?
The most interesting shot in the trailer is also one of the most fleeting. We've known for some time that Cillian Murphy is returning to the franchise for the first time since 28 Days Later. His character Jim woke up in the hospital following an accident and acted as our eyewitness guide to the initial outbreak of the Rage virus in which infected blood from a chimpanzee manifested as a devastating pandemic. You'll remember that Jim and Selena (Naomie Harris) survived the events of that film, but they were absent from the events of 28 Weeks Later, although they clearly would have been affected by the subsequent Rage outbreak.
So, what are we imagining happened to them? Answers will surely be forthcoming but the quick glimpse of a skeletal Jim (at least, we're assuming it's him) emerging from the long grass points toward something horrible. Has he been starved and tortured or has he mutated into a new zombie-like iteration of an infected?
More to the point, if it is Murphy, has he gone method and lost all that weight or is it a case of impressive prosthetic work?
UPDATE: It's been confirmed that the zombie-like figure is not Cillian Murphy but art dealer Angus Neill. Director Danny Boyle was reportedly intrigued with Neill's physicality and cast him in the film.
“Danny told me he’d always had me in mind for the role,” said Neill. “So we met up, hit it off, and I agreed to take part.
“On set, he has an extraordinary ability to hypnotise you, and working with him on the film was a very, very intense experience.”
28 Years Later is released on June 20th, 2025 with a sequel: The Bone Temple, and a third movie, due for release, well, later on. If that all seems too far away, check out the following feature outlining why horror movies are best experienced on the big screen.
WHY HORROR MOVIES ARE MEANT TO BE EXPERIENCED ON THE BIG SCREEN
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