It’s been long since a good zombie horror film has released in theatres, and it’s only normal to have expectations from a popular franchise in this genre. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple directed by Nia DaCosta is a sequel to the 2025 film 28 Years Later. The film stars Ralph Fiennes, Jack O’Connell, Chi Lewis-Parry, Emma Laird and Alfie Williams, and the story continues to show us Spike’s life after he leaves home and joins the new group lead by Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal. The film’s flat screenplay contributes hugely to making it a dull watch, however, the film does shine in few moments. Here’s a quick review for you to decide whether or not this sequel is worth spending time on!
Plot
The film kicks off with a scene where the Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell) led gang is harassing Spike. However, the young boys quick defensive techniques saves him from getting killed and he gets a place in the group, of course against his wishes. The group or rather wanderers move around killing and disemboweling people, and the leader calls it “Charity”. Simultaneously, we also get to know more about Dr Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) who is working on on curing the infected, and Alpha (Chi Lewis Parry) becomes his first patient. The two plots develop to finally merge at some point where Dr Ian Kelson and Jimmy Crystal cross paths, and what happens next is a spoiler I would not be sharing!
Screenplay
Unlike 28 Years Later, the screenplay of the sequel is comparatively less interesting. One would expect a more interesting and layered build-up into the world of the bone temple, a shrine for the dead made by Dr Ian Kelson. But the film hardly manages to keep us on the edge with its storytelling. There are gore sequences but nothing that was petrifying or bone-chilling. Also, the sequel is painfully slow with little to nothing happening really. Dr Ian Kelson’s story could have been intriguing even to someone watching this franchise for the very first time, but the poor writing of this sub-plot kills the curiosity. Also, the character deserved a better ending! In the prequel, the efforts to survive in a zombie world, the narrow escapes, the complex relationships, among other things were explored, however, in this one, there are hardly any wow factors. At some point, it’s even hard to believe that we are witnessing a world overtaken by zombie apocalypse because there is hardly any survival happening, of course the humans are worse than horrifying infectious creatures, so there are no surprises there.
As for the horror and thriller part, the film hardly has any. There are scenes which might make you want shut your eyes but if you are fan of such gore themes, you might have seen worse! Also again, nothing compared to the 2025 film.
However towards the climax, the film takes an interesting turn, and one scene that stayed with me for sometime was of Dr Ian performing as the Satan to convince the Jimmy gang that he was on. The scene was intense and the use of music to enhance the experience did hit the right spots.
The performances were decent but my favourite was Jack O’Connell as the cruel, heartless, and manipulative Jimmy Crystal. The character seemed to have more depth and layers which instantly added substance to the plot, and while there are hardly elements to admire in this film, this character and Jack Connell’s performance does a lot of heavy lifting for it. Even Ralph Fiennes does a great job as Dr Ian, however, his story deserved better writing because it falls flat. He was exceptional as the performative satan!
Verdict
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is a forgettable zombie film in the franchise, despite the potential it had. The story and screenplay fails to impress and the film surprises only in moments, for which you have to keep a lot of patience too. It’s currently running in theatres.