HOLLYWOOD—I haven’t watched a movie after a long-time that left me with mixed feelings. I’m referring to “28 Days Later: The Bone Temple” the second installment in a new trilogy of the iconic zombie flick “28 Days Later” that arrived nearly 20 plus years ago. In 2025, audiences were treated to a hotly anticipated “28 Years Later” and the flick was helmed by Alex Garland. I will admit “28 Years Later” gave me mixed emotions to because I was so eager to see this flick, but it wasn’t what I expected it to be, but I didn’t hate it, it was just a bit more arduous to get thru then what I expected.
As a viewer, it is quite critical to see “28 Years Later” before watching “The Bone Temple.” Why? Characters from the previous flick appear in this sequel and if you don’t you might feel lost at times. While watching “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” I asked myself several times: where is this movie going? What is it trying to tell me? I have plenty of theories, but I don’t know if they’re all accurate.
The zombie flick, which is directed by Nia DaCosta, is blood, violent and has some graphic nudity. Yes, I get it’s a post-apocalyptic era where zombies have taken over courtesy of a virus, but the zombies are not that prevalent in this go around. They just aren’t and I expected the opposite. You have a bunch of people who all look alike because they are following a cult-like leader in Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal portrayed by Jack O’Connell.
O’Connell is fantastic in the role; you despise him as a villain watching this film, and I was truly just waiting for the character to receive his comeuppance because it has to happen right? I won’t spoil that destination for you, but the movie raises that antenna on the happily ever-after ending we always want to see when it comes to cinema. The hero prevails over the villain in the end, but that isn’t always real life.
A lot of the wannabe ‘Fingers’ who idolize Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal, all feel like the same person. It is very difficult to tell who is who. I was able to do that with at least one of them because of their bond with Spike (Alfie Williams) who finds himself a part of this torturous crew after being rescued by Crystal in the previous flick. He is fighting to escape, but at the same time sees no way out. Does he have any redemption in the movie from other characters? Not really. We have the return of Ralph Fiennes as Dr. Ian Kelson, but Kelson isn’t doing much a vast majority of the movie besides taming a ravenous beast in Samson.
The violence in this installment is so brutal; I had to turn my face away a few times because it was just too much for me. I felt like I was being pulled in two directions: questions raised about cult mentality as well as humanity sometimes being its own worst enemy when it comes to life altering situations like a zombie apocalypse.
Watching “The Bone Temple” felt like a movie where I had no idea what was unfolding for the longest time, and then when I see things starting to unfold, I got excited and wanted more, but then things conclude. It felt like a movie attempting to reach its peak, but it didn’t truly get there. Was “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” a movie that I plan to watch again? I don’t know. I didn’t love it, I didn’t hate it, but it left me scratching my head with more questions than answers.
