28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Nia DaCosta, 2026)⭐⭐⭐⭐

The first part of the intended 28 Days Later sequel trilogy, directed by Danny Boyle, ended on an almighty WTF of a cliffhanger with young survivor Spike being rescued from a horde of infected by... a team of ninja Jimmy Savile cosplayers? Nia DaCosta picks up the reins to let you know that, no, in fact you really did see that and you were not hallucinating. In so doing, she has crafted, with series writer Alex Garland, arguably the best and most moving entry yet.

We pick up shortly after the end of 28YL, with Spike being forced to fight to the death for a place in the band of Savile-inspired killers called the Jimmys, led by Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal (Jack O'Connell) who was the young boy we saw escape from the infected in the opening moments of the previous film.

Crystal is, it turns out, a Satanist, in the sense that he worships 'Old Nick' (or at least claims to) and leads his band of 'Fingers' across the land to find innocent survivors to brutally murder in tribute to his master - a process he calls 'charity' in what is probably another sly nod to what we know of the famous charity fundraiser Jimmy Savile in OUR timeline.

The Jimmys' world view is tested when one spots Dr Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), who we last saw building his ossuary - the Bone Temple of the title - from the bleached bones and skulls of every corpse he could find, as an enormous memento mori. With his skin stained red by antiseptic and his communing with a 'demon' in the form of Alpha infected Samson, also from the previous film, they assume he must be Old Nick incarnate and decide to meet their lord in person.

This isn't Sight & Sound so I will spare you any more spoilers, except to say that it involves a lot of violence and perhaps the most Metal 20 minutes ever captured on camera.

Fiennes is incredibly good in this. His bizarre 'friendship' with the monstrous Samson (which takes place largely when the latter is sedated, an event he comes to crave) is the emotional core of the film and Fiennes sells it wonderfully with barely any dialogue. O'Connell too makes a wonderfully menacing villain and in his short scenes with Fiennes we learn something of the trauma that brought him to that place and shaped his twisted world view.

This is a horror movie and, as is now standard in the Zombie-adjacent subgenre, the real monster is Man. But while DaCosta never flinches from showing gruesome violence, she she does so in an unshowy, matter-of-fact way that never stoops to jump scares or cheap 'gag' kills.

The 28... series is grim and bleak for the most part, but these new sequels show glimmers of hope both in the ember of humanity still glowing within Samson and the ability of characters like Kelson to find meaning and compassion even within the apocalypse. If you can see past the gore and dread, it is a film that will stay with you long after the credits roll.