28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, the next entry in the 28 Days Later franchise and a sequel to 2025’s 28 Years Later, is out today in theaters. Ahead of checking out the latest movie in the franchise, there are some things fans might want to know beforehand.
“In a continuation of the epic story, Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) finds himself in a shocking new relationship – with consequences that could change the world as they know it – and Spike’s (Alfie Williams) encounter with Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell) becomes a nightmare he can’t escape. In the world of The Bone Temple, the infected are no longer the greatest threat to survival – the inhumanity of the survivors can be stranger and more terrifying,” reads the film’s official synopsis.
What should you know before seeing 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple?
The most important thing to remember regarding 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is that it does deviate from the standard “zombie movie” fare of some of the original films. While the chaotic, fast-paced zombies of the franchise are found in the movie, The Bone Temple slows things down a bit and focuses much more on the human side of things.
The movie picks up right around the end of 28 Years Later, and focuses heavily on the terrifying Sir Jimmy Crystal and his gang, a group of children who roam the land with him and go after people and zombies alike. The movie also focuses heavily on Ralph Fiennes’ Dr. Ian Kelson, who continues his mission of finding and memorializing zombies, as well as his relationship with “Samson,” the Alpha leader of the zombies.
While there are some zombie encounters in the movie, The Bone Temple instead chooses to explore the lore of the movies more than just present an outright horror movie. Kelson’s exploration of the mysterious virus is a big focus of the movie, as is Jimmy Crystal’s relationship to his followers, and how the two interact is also at play here. Thankfully, the movie still retains many of the terrifying aspects of its predecessors, but for those hoping for zombies galore, they might be disappointed.
In ComingSoon’s review, Jonathan Sim cited this as one of the more disappointing aspects of the movie.
“Perhaps the most surprising and disappointing element of The Bone Temple is how marginal the Rage-infected themselves are. Zombies have always been more than just monsters in this franchise; they were embodiments of speed, panic, and societal collapse. In 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later, the infected were an omnipresent threat, shaping every decision and relationship,” reads Sim’s review.
“Here, they barely register. There are a handful of encounters and a few jump scares clearly designed to satisfy genre expectations, but for the most part, the zombies function as background texture rather than a driving force. The apocalypse is a setting, not a catalyst.”
