 |
| Images courtesy of Sony Pictures |
It's quite a risky endeavor to make a sequel to a popular film decades later, and it is even riskier to take the story in a completely different direction. Danny Boyle and Alex Garland managed to avoid all the clichés with 28 Years Later (2025) and create a different side of an infection film (or zombies, depending on who you ask). 28 Years Later was an exploration of the beauty and horror of death, and it was elevated by Ralph Fiennes' haunting performance as Dr. Ian Kelson, a former doctor who is trying to figure out how to cure the virus as well as pay respect to those who have died during the outbreak.
Director Nia DaCosta, who also directed a decades-later sequel, Candyman (2021), is at the helm of 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026), which picks up directly after the first film's ending. Spike (Alfie Williams) has been captured by Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal (Jack O'Connell) and his "Fingers," a group of young kids under his command who have been given names that are variations of Jimmy. A separate plot thread follows Dr. Kelson as he carefully befriends Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry), the alpha of the infected, and studies him to see if he can find a way to reach his humanity and communicate with him.
One of the main themes of both this and the previous film is that an individual creates much of their persona from core memories and experiences from their youth, or formative years. At the beginning of 28 Years Later, Lord Jimmy, as a child, was traumatized as his entire family was taken out by a horde of the infected, led by the pastor of the local church, who also happened to be his father. Since Jimmy was raised to believe that Satan is evil and the actions his father took were also horrible, he conflates his father with the devil, and in his psychosis, decides that he must continue perpetrating his father's work and spread misery on the island along with his cult followers.
Conversely, Dr. Kelson is trying to unlock Samson's core memories before he was infected, as he sees flashes of humanity left deep down in his psyche. Kelson himself indulges in his past, decorating his abode with pictures of his family and friends and listening to records of his favorite songs from the before times. Samson and Kelson are two sides of the same coin: one a learned man who has had to give up some of his humanity to survive, and the other a "monster" with a softer side, struggling to emerge from beneath the murky waters of the viral infection. These two men meet in the middle, sharing fleeting moments of trust and peace.
DaCosta's direction is more grounded and intimate than the previous action-oriented film, choosing to linger on the more philosophical side of the equation. She takes great care to develop the characters, but isn't afraid to show the gory, brutal side of complete societal collapse, especially regarding Lord Jimmy's sociopathic doctrine.
Jimmy's aesthetic and manner are inspired by Jimmy Savile, a media personality who was beloved in the UK for his eccentric personality and charity work, but was later found to have sexually abused numerous people, including children, over a period of decades. His alter ego in the film could be seen as a critique of the cult of personality and how it can be used to guide others into accepting and even perpetrating atrocities.
As the middle film in a trilogy, The Bone Temple successfully evolves the themes and narrative introduced in the first film, while setting the stage for what promises to be an incredible finale. It offers a poignant and harrowing exploration of the depths to which humanity can sink, as well as the resilience shown in the struggle to survive and, when given the opportunity, thrive.
--Michelle Kisner