I’ll admit, that the concept of doing another 28 Days film this close to 2025’s 28 Years Later gave me strong reservations. it basically was mirroring the release strategy of Renny Harlin’s Strangers trilogy, nothing which should ever be repeated.With director Danny Boyle taking a break again from the series,a new director was needed, and that came in the form of Nia Dacosta, who directed the candyman reboot, but also most recently Hedda for Amazon. Sure, in between she did The MArvels, but I have a feeling there was a lot of studio interference on that one, and with her being a fledgling director, she didn’t have much muscle to flex. In fact, she has referred to the final version as not what she intended to make, and cited the Marvel experience as a learning curve.

So she jumps right back in with this side quest of a film, in itself supposedly getting its own trilogy. Returning to the series are Ralph Fiennes as Dr Kelson and alfie Williams as Spike. they met in 28 Years Later, and given how this film is set up, I would recommend strongly having seen 28 Years Later, and not just jumping into The Bone temple. Also technically returning is Chi Lewis Perry as Samson, the brute strength alpha we were introduced to, with a particular set of skills in ripping off heads with spinal cords still attached.

New to the franchise is Jack O’Connell as Sir Jimmy, the Fagin-esque leader of a pack of delinquent attack dog kids who do his bidding, as he promises them hellfire. Sir Jimmy has a collection of youth who all end up taking a variation on his name, like he’s some cult leader with a Peter Pan fetish. His kids are forced to dress a certain way too, and when Spike has a run in with the group, he’s lucky enough to prove himself adequate in combat so he gets absorbed into the gang, instead of victimized by it.

The latter of which does happen to a group of homesteaders trying to survive, who are unfortunate enough to meet the Jimmy’s. meanwhile, the good doctor is developing this odd friendship with Samson, using morphine to quiet the rage virus, so he and the beast can have meaningful conversations on what a cure might look like. Dr. Kelson has spent his life trying to understand the rage virus, and believes he knows how to quell it, but it is all a little too late, as his medical supplies are running out.

Eventually, our two stories will collide, which leads to Kelson needing to play a part for Jimmy, adopting a father figure role that is part of who Jimmy is, and also part of the lore he has created for his followers.

28 Years Later: the Bone temple takes what 28 Years Later started to do so well, pushing into the depravity of a prolonged existence in an apocalypse, and centralizes this chilling gang of kids, ready to commit heinous atrocities at the behest of their leader, not so unlike the child soldiers recruited to fight conflicts in third world countries. Clearly impressionable, the youth believe the only adult in their life, and use the community to stay alive, with some kids relishing it more than others. While still technically alive, they represent much the same idea that the Walking Dead suggested, that it isn’t so much the rage virus zombies that are the Walking Dead, but rather the survivors. O’Connell’s Jimmy is a pied piper of lost souls, ghosts that travel a haunting environment that no one would actually want to inhabit.

Dacosta’s direction here is effective, taking Alex Garland’s script, and making something her own, while not wildly deviating from the style of the franchise. The sound design and score are unnerving, and while the performances from returning Fiennes and Williams are both exceptional as expected, it is Jack O’Connell, once again offered a memorable villain role after last year’s Sinners, that will stick with you. he has moments where he seems calm and collected, and can deliver a disgusting probability just like part of his flow. In one scene, he is having a genial conversation with someone, before he calmly reminds them that if they don’t do what he says, he will cut out their intestines and feed it to them until they choke on it. And he never flinches, he doesn’t over perform, he just knows how to sit in the pocket like a dystopian Hannibal Lecter.

The audio description here is once again exceptional by deluxe, and while I never once thought about whether Samson was wearing clothes, this track makes it abundantly clear, he is not. I will have that image burned into my soul for all of eternity.

Dacosta delivers a visceral, worthy successor that blazes its own trail, setting the standard on how to continue to world build within franchise extensions. Jack O’Connell continues to deliver memorable work.

Fresh: 7.9/10