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Fans of post-apocalyptic horror and zombie media may have already been waiting ages for 28 Years Later to arrive in theaters. Now that it’s officially here, however, many fans have questions about the timeline, canon and future of the franchise. The film marks the third installment in the 28 Later series, following 28 Days Later in 2002 and 28 Weeks Later in 2007. It also serves as the inaugural installment of a brand new trilogy, which is set to propel the story in a bold new direction. Those who may need help unpacking 28 Years Later should feel free to read ahead, as we’ll be outlining the plot, themes and characters of the film before digging into the bizarre conclusion. As you can imagine, there will be full spoilers for the entire franchise ahead, so feel free to keep this page bookmarked if you haven’t yet made your way to the local cinema.
Long before Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes joined the franchise, audiences were introduced to the rage virus via Cillian Murphy’s Jim. Jim was a bicycle courier who fell into a coma due to a traffic accident in 28 Days Later, only to wake up and find that the world around him had been destroyed. After fighting off a few bloodthirsty zombies and discovering that his family and friends were all gone, Jim shacked up with a rag-tag band of survivors roaming the streets of London, each searching for some kind of camp. Over the course of the film, the gang manages to seek out several different encampments, only for them to be destroyed already, or a ruse established by rogue bandits.
By the end of 28 Days Later, Jim has been forced to fight and kill a number of British soldiers, who have created a false safety zone with the intention of luring in and sexually assaulting defenseless women. Jim manages to successfully save Selena and Hannah, who were on the road with him, though the trio lost many peers along the way. As the three survivors prepare to escape from the safety zone, one of the soldiers shoots Jim in the stomach, leaving him with life-threatening wounds. Depending on which cut of the film you’re watching, 28 Days Later concludes with Jim, Selena and Hannah flagging down an airplane, and wondering if the rest of the civilized world has been compromised like London. Though the film famously offers multiple alternate conclusions, it seems clear that this is the “true” ending, since filmmaker Danny Boyle has confirmed that Jim will return in a future installment.
The 2007 sequel, 28 Weeks Later, introduces a whole new cast to the equation and shows how the virus impacted civilians on the ground during the initial outbreak. In this film, a couple named Don and Alice are separated when their cottage becomes overrun with infected. Don deserts his wife and leaves her for dead, only to be reunited with their adult children seven months later. During this frame of time, the infection has naturally been curtailed enough for NATO soldiers to storm London and rebuild society with refugee camps. When Don’s children, Tammy and Andy, sneak out of the safe zone to inspect their childhood home, they locate Alice, who is somehow still alive and not infected after all this time. A group of scientists experiments on Alice and determines that she is an asymptomatic carrier of the rage virus, making her effectively immune, but still extremely dangerous to other survivors.
Don ignores safety protocols and attempts to embrace her, causing him to catch the virus and wreak havoc on the quarantine zone. This sets off a chain reaction that endangers the entire community and causes U.S. forces to firebomb the entire area to contain the spread of infection. Before these bombs drop, however, a U.S. Sergeant named Doyle attempts to save several of the civilians and escorts them out of town. These civilians include Tammy and Andy, who scientists believe might carry Alice’s relative immunity, making them integral to developing a cure. Though Doyle and the others perish on the road, the siblings eventually make it all the way to a helicopter rendezvous at Wembley Stadium and fly off to France. Unfortunately, 28 Weeks Later packs an intensely grim ending, as we leap forward in time to see that the helicopter has crashed, and France is now overrun with infection, decimating mainland Europe.
The general consensus regarding the open-ended conclusion is that Tammy and Andy didn’t actually have the same immunity as their mother, and accidentally spread the infection while the chopper was in the air, causing a crash. Other fans believe that it’s possible that French military forces shot the helicopter down, fearing that it could have been carrying infected individuals. Either way, it seems clear that the helicopter was patient zero for the region, as Europe was able to avoid the spread of the rage virus up until this point.
As referenced by the title, 28 Years Later takes place decades after the initial outbreak begins. At this time, the rage virus has finally been all but purged from Europe, leaving only the British Isles to languish in the outbreak. Naval patrols surround the islands, where infected zombies roam free and naked like wild animals. Though the rest of the world seems to have moved on from the pandemic, there are still small survivor camps in the UK, who either refuse to seek help from the outside world or don’t know that doing so is an option. One group has taken refuge on Holy Island, a small parcel of land connected to England exclusively by a single causeway. The road back to the mainland is only operational during certain hours of the day, as it becomes fully submerged by the sea during high tide.
On the island, we’re introduced to a scavenger named Jamie, his wife Isla and their young son Spike. Isla is revealed to be battling some kind of mystery illness, though the family lacks the medical access to diagnose her. Together, Jamie and Spike head to the mainland to hunt, fetch supplies and search for any medical professionals who might still be alive in the area. In a shocking twist of events, we see that there are now pregnant infected giving birth to infected children. This explains how it’s possible that the creatures continue to exist even decades after the initial outbreak. They seem to have evolved to replicate another form of human, rather than unthinking, unfeeling zombies. This evolution is further illustrated by different kinds of infected cropping up, including so-called Alphas, who display advanced intelligence, and “slow-lows,” who prefer to remain low to the ground.
After hearing rumors of a reclusive doctor, Spike takes Isla to England hoping they can cure her condition. The doctor, Ian Kelson, has built a bizarre lair on the mainland, surrounded by effigy towers of cleaned human skulls and bonfire pyres. Kelson narrowly rescues Spike and Isla from a horde of infected and manages to take in an infected infant along the way as well. While inside his lair, he explains that Isla has terminal cancer and that her condition is incurable. Isla requests to be euthanized, and the doctor obliges, giving her a morphine injection. With Spike’s help, Kelson adds Isla’s freshly polished skull to the top of his tower, just in time for an Alpha infected to begin attacking the lair. Kelson hands the infant off to Spike and tells him to run home, though Spike is conflicted about facing his father again.
In the end, Spike sends the infected child up to the doors at the Holy Island community with a note. He turns and heads back for the mainland, searching for a self-actualizing adventure. Once he gets there, the tides wash away the causeway behind him, preventing Jamie from chasing after him. 28 days later, Spike is attacked by a group of infected and nearly killed. Just before he can be overwhelmed by the creatures, a gang of oddly-dressed individuals with thin, blonde hair swoop in and save him with a series of Power Rangers style stunts. The scene is incredibly jarring, as it marks a major tonal departure from the rest of the movie, and almost feels like a skit right out of Saturday Night Live. The gang is known as The Jimmies, and they are led by a man wielding an upside-down cross, who seems to be modeled after British television personality Jimmy Savile. The film cuts to the closing credits before unpacking the screwball conclusion, though we’ll surely be seeing more of Spike and the Jimmies in the near future.
The thrilling conclusion to 28 Years Later is one of the most polarizing and unexpected endings in recent film history. This can be partially explained by the fact that the movie was shot in tandem with an upcoming sequel titled 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. This is on pace to release in theaters in January 2026, and answer most of our lingering questions from the entire franchise. While discussing the conclusion of 28 Years Later, as well as the forthcoming sequel, filmmaker Danny Boyle told BAFTA, “When I read the screenplay that Alex [Garland] sent, there were these characters that appeared at the end of the film called The Jimmies. And it is shocking. It returns you to the fact that this is a horror film, but not in a way you might be expecting. They go on to dominate the second film.”
The cast of Bone Temple includes all of the key players from 28 Years Later, such as Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Jamie and Ralph Fiennes’ Kelson, as well as Cillian Murphy, who is making his long-awaited return to the franchise for the first time since 2002. While we don’t know much about the plot just yet, a cursory Google search of Jimmy Savile will reveal some horrifying thematic suggestions from the final sequence of 28 Years Later. Savile portrayed a kind-hearted, soft-spoken television character for decades in England, only for his legacy to be entirely tarnished after his death in 2011.
Once the performer passed away, hundreds of victims came forward with horrific tales of sexual abuse and physical assault at the hands of Savile. To this day, the unsuspecting actor is considered one of the UK’s most despicable sexual predators of all time. We’re not exactly sure how that coincides with the vision Danny Boyle and Alex Garland have cooked up, but it surely doesn’t bode well for the wide-eyed Spike character.
How many 28 Later movies are there?
The franchise currently spans three films, with a fourth landing in theaters on January 2026. Danny Boyle has expressed interest in helming yet another 28 Later film after The Bone Temple‘s release, though no such outing has begun active production at this time.
Was 28 Years Later filmed on an iPhone?
28 Years Later nabbed a number of headlines during production due to Boyle’s use of iPhones to shoot coverage. In truth, the film was captured using a wide array of cameras, drones and iPhone Pro 15 Max models. Several behind-the-scenes photos showcase Boyle’s advanced rigs, which house dozens of phones in order to capture the practical effects of the infected from numerous angles at once.
Is Cillian Murphy in 28 Years Later?
Cillian Murphy is not present within the run-time of 28 Yers Later. Still, the performer has been confirmed to reprise his role as Jim in The Bone Temple, so we can rule out any suspicion that these films exist in a vacuum. According to Danny Boyle, Murphy will play a massive role in the upcoming movie, making him integral to the narrative, and far more than just a cameo appearance.
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