28 Years later might end up being the best horror film of 2025! Sure, there’s going to be B-Horror films in 2025 that will be liked by general horror fans. But 28 Years Later is not just for horror fans, I don’t even consider it a horror film in the traditional sense. Of course this franchise is a zombie movie franchise, but it’s so much more. These movies more or less human survival stories, because The main plot is always about how human beings learn to survive and go on living. The first movie was great because it was a different take on zombies. The second movie dealt with the dangers of quarantine, but 28 years later is about how society moved forward. Can society ever be what it once was? To me that’s the biggest question after watching this movie. The basis of this story is how society evolves when the world is still filled with the infected. But what if your society is cut off from the outside world that has moved on and then people are left to form a society on their own without technology where there are still monsters that have evolved. To me that’s the genius of this movie. And if I’m being honest, that’s the biggest mystery. I will not go into spoilers because I think everybody should watch 28 Years later, but here’s why I loved it. The first one is almost a masterpiece especially how it shot on an old DV camera and the footage looks old. The second one is not a bad movie, but clearly not as good as the first one and even the last one.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson is a force of nature in this film. He plays a father taking his son out into the infected world for the first time and teaching him how to hunt and scavenge for supplies. Jody Comer plays the mother who is strong-willed and fearless while dealing with an illness that she can’t quite explain because there are no traditional doctors. Ralph Fiennes is amazing as the doctor who shows the ultimate respect dead, but is also trying to cleanse the land that he is trapped in. This film despite being scary and intense at moments is a very emotional journey and to me that’s the most brilliant part because it isn’t just a typical slasher film that’s quick paced and filled with lots of blood. It draws you in to the mysteries of the land to which the story takes place while the characters are being hunted by a new breed of infected. The first two movies took the audience into the cities, but this film is all about the countryside where things get scarier. I love the pacing of the film. I love the emotional connection that we have to the characters in how they deal with death. Best of all I love the world that we see where nothing is at all when it seems. This film is clearly the beginning of what will become a trilogy because from a world-building standpoint we are being introduced to essentially a new country or a new world that coexists with mutated infected who act differently and at the same time cut off from the rest of the world.
As I said, I don’t consider this a typical horror movie but it has all of the aspects that make it a great horror film by slowly drawing you into the scariest parts of the story. I hate the ones where it’s too quick. Give me the ones that draw me in that take me on a journey or I’m on the edge of my seat and that’s what 28 Years later will do even during the most emotional parts of the story. It’s great to go back to jump so far ahead where you are a generation removed from the story of the first movies. The other two movies are great in dealing with the fall of the world within the first 30 days, but this is all about how the world rebuilt itself within its new environment and that’s a beautiful story in my opinion. The performances are great. The cinematography is outstanding! The musical score helps draw us into the story. There are so many things to like about this film that I really don’t have any complaints. If I’m being honest my biggest complaint is I want to know more and I can’t wait for the other movies to tell me about this world so far removed from the original movie. But it’s a great setup to what will be a 28 Years Later Trilogy. This film doesn’t feel final in any way. It very much feels like the first act of a story. I didn’t think we would ever get a chance to revisit this world, but I’m glad that we do and can’t wait to see how the story progresses. There are many more things I can talk about on why I love this film, but it would all be spoilers so my recommendation is go see 28 Years later if you’re a fan of this franchise!
