I have been a fan of Danny Boyle's films since I saw Shallow Grave way back in 1994. And then Trainspotting completely blew me a way a couple of years later. So when 28 Days later came out in 2002 I couldn't wait to see it. Well actually I could. You see, I am a complete baby when it comes to scary movies. There have only been a handful of horror movies I have actually watched in the theater. I simply get too emotionally involved in the movies so when something is scary... I am really scared. Sadly this meant I had to wait until it was available on a streaming service before I could see 28 Years Later. This is one of those times I wish I would have been brave enough to see this movie in the theater. The visuals and sound would have been awesome in Dolby! But even without that, I loved two of the three movies packed into 28 Years Later.

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![](https://all.web.img.acsta.net/r_2500_x/img/dd/86/dd861d7443fb1afd6df7b7c8c2175b16.jpg)

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Wait. Three movies? Yep. that's what I said and I stand by it. 28 Years Later is like three (or maybe even four) separate movies rolled into one. I actually wonder if this would have been even better as an eight episode television series.  And I do not mean this was three or four distinct stories. It is all about the same twelve year old boy who is coming of age on an isolated island after a zombie apocalypse. It is definitely meant to be one movie, but the style changed so much that it really seemed like several shorter ones. 

The first 45 minutes of the movie is a cool story about a dad training his son to survive while surrounded by zombies. The father takes his boy on his first "zombie hunt" and it was really exciting and touching. I freaking loved this part of the movie and was ready to say it had become my favorite zombie movie ever. The movie then takes a turn to focus more on the boy and his mother. To me the movie slowed down a bit here and got a little weird. But I still liked it. I just did not like it nearly as much as the first act. And then there is the ending. Ummmm.... wow.... uh... what just happened? The movie takes another turn and becomes even crazier and more exciting. Thank god they have already started the sequel because if I never got to see the characters introduced at the end of the movie ever again, I might cry myself to sleep. I literally cannot wait to see the next one!!!!

Now about those visuals and sound. Boyle and his crew did a simply amazing job of cutting from the past to the present and from the seen and unseen. When the action occurs, Boyle uses a choppy style to make the violence more watchable instead of just being gory. he switches camera angles during the action to really add to the feeling of chaos one might experience when being attacked by zombies. He also used sound to keep you on the edge of your seat as you hoped the sounds wouldn't get any closer. But perhaps the best use of sound and editing paid off by making a Rudyard Kipling poem transform into one of the scariest things I have ever heard. I could (and probably will) watch the scenes where Boyle uses Kipling's poem "Boots" to show a bit of the history of war and human kind's efforts to survive. 

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![](https://www.nme.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/28_Years_Later_Ralph_Fiennes-1392x884.jpg)

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I really hope my description of the middle portion of the movie doesn't deter anyone from seeing it. That part is still good but the other parts are sensational! And without the middle part, you would miss Ralph Fiennes' amazing performance as a... well I don't know what to call him without slipping in any spoilers so I''ll just say you need to see his performance. And it wasn't just him. The casting is perfect! Aaron Taylor-Johnson is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors. Jodie Comer, who I also liked in Free Guy and the Bikeriders, plays a great mom. But the kid... he is amazing! I can't believe it is Alfie Williams' first big role. His perforce as 12 year old Spike makes the entire movie. As the main character, if he couldn't do the job, the movie would have sucked. 

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