In 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, an apocalyptic horror film directed by Nia DaCosta and based on a screenplay by Alex Garland, the good, the bad, the spiteful, and the hypocritical do not coexist in harmony. They do not love each other and lay traps for one another in an England isolated from the rest of the world due to a zombie outbreak.
The “Jimmys” are at the top in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. This band of psychopathic, satanic drifters, speaking a form of Cockney, embodies fatal transgression. They stand in stark contrast to Dr. Ian Kelson, a reclusive humanist doctor living in a mausoleum. He attempts to pacify the alpha zombie, Samson, with morphine. This human-zombie duo, already present in Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later (2025), is explored in greater depth here.
As for the unfortunate boy Spike, he is subjected to intense psychological pressure from the cult of the Jimmys, with their harassment practices and torture rituals.
The tension never dissipates in this production, keeping us perpetually on edge. Certainly, the action scenes and close-ups appear slightly fewer than in 28 Years Later.
Yet, the Jimmys, competing to commit the most sordid crimes, along with the child who constantly seeks to sneak away and the zombie Samson, cultivate a permanent tension. In this maelstrom of unpredictability, only the doctor Ian Kelson provides a semblance of reason.
In an agricultural, survivalist, and post-apocalyptic England, fragmented into micro-territories, death or transformation seems to be the only horizon. But perhaps there will come a moment when this fictional England reconnects with the rest of the world.
Release in 2026
Running time : 108 minutes
