28 Years Later: The Bone Temple Review

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is the fourth entry in the 28 Days Later series and a direct sequel to 28 Years Later.

Spike (Alfie Williams) gets induced by The Fingers after being forced to compete in a fight to the death. This group is controlled by Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell), who rules it as a sadistic cult, leading Spike to want to find an escape route.

Dr Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) makes an extraordinary discovery through his interactions with the hulking alpha, Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry). Samson craves Kelson’s medicine, leading Kelson to believe that the infected are more intelligent and self-aware than anyone first thought.

28 Years Later was an anticipated film. It did well with critics, having an 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but the audience reaction has been more mixed. It has a 63% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 6.6 on IMDB, the lowest-ranked film in the series. The Bone Temple has earned better reviews from audiences and critics, but its North American box office was half that of 28 Years Later.

The Bone Temple was filmed back-to-back with 28 Years Later, although it did see a lot of changes behind the camera. Nia DaCosta, the director of the Candyman legacy sequel/soft reboot, took over the directing duties. DaCosta’s Marvels and Hedda cinematographer, Sean Bobbitt, replaced Clive Dod Mantle, and acclaimed composer Hildur Guðnadóttir (Joker, Chernobyl, Tár) provided the film with a more traditional film score. Jake Roberts, an Alex Garland regular, was the editor on The Bone Temple. This made The Bone Temple a different beast from its predecessor.

28 Years Later focused a lot on its world-building. It showed how much Britain had changed after the events of 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later. Spike’s hometown developed a sense of English nationalism, showing how the infected had evolved, setting up a mysterious human threat. 28 Years Later’s core story was simple since it was about a boy travelling with his mother in the hope a doctor could cure Jodie Comer’s illness. 28 Years Later had a controversial ending where a group of Jimmy Saville cosplayers fight off the infected whilst the Teletubbies’ theme played in the background. The Bone Temple picked up where 28 Years Later left off.

The Bone Temple was more focused on the villains. The infected were a background threat, something that The Fingers could dispatch with ease. Spike was trapped in a cult, and he was looking for a way out. It would be like a comic book arc or a series of The Walking Dead if one of the main characters were held hostage. The Bone Temple was the most violent in the series, which was a feat considering the previous three entries. That was due to the skinning scene.

The Fingers acted similarly to the Cannibals in Doomsday, horror villains who exaggerate aspects of British culture. In Doomsday, the Cannibals were kilt-wearing punks, whilst The Fingers were inspired by Sir Jimmy’s childhood of children’s media and his father’s religious ramblings. Doomsday was a pastiche of the Mad Max series, and Britain was a post-apocalyptic hellscape like Australia was in those films. The Finger distorted memories and sense of history, which made them feel like a darker version of The Tribe Who Left in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, and there were elements of Riddley Walker since that was a novel about distorted history in post-apocalyptic England.

Sir Jimmy was used as a critique of cults. He had a dark charisma, just like his icon, Jimmy Savile. He used fear, intimidation, and violence to control his group. Yet his beliefs were cobbled together from his memories and simply made up. If his teachings were challenged, he would brag and bullshit an explanation. 28 Years Later had a religious imaginary, and The Bone Temple doubled on this with religious symbolism, especially during the final act. The Bone Temple has one of the most insane third acts in Alex Garland’s filmography: that’s remarkable considering he wrote Sunshine and Men. I loved the insanity of the final act.

Kelson’s relationship with Samson had echoes of Day of the Dead since that zombie classic had a subplot with scientists in a bunker believing zombies could regain their humanity. Day of the Dead had a scientific approach, while The Bone Temple had a more unusual approach since Samson became a drug addict. The Bone Temple made Kelson and Samson’s relationship a personal affair: they were developing a friendship, and Samson slowly regained his humanity, whilst the people of Britain were losing theirs. A cure or treatment of the Rage virus was more feasible than in other zombie media since the infected were living beings, not reanimated corpses.

The Bone Temple was a more conventional film than its artistic predecessor, yet it was still a worthy entry in the series. On its own terms, it was a strong post-apocalyptic horror film.