28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

Whew...what a way to kick off my first screening of 2026.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple was shot directly after 28 Years Later (which was released in June 2025). This is part 2 of 3, directed by Nia DaCosta instead of Danny Boyle.

The reason behind this was that shooting in Northumbria is expensive, so to be cost-effective, they had to shoot both parts back-to-back. Danny needed to finish up getting 28 Years Later ready for release, so he turned direction over to DaCosta.

I know a lot of people have concerns because 28 Weeks Later was not considered as successful under a different director (Juan Carlos Fresnadillo), but, in my opinion, she did honor the horror and weirdness that accompanied 28 Years Later.

I still think 28 Years Later was better than this sequel, but not by a considerable margin. The Bone Temple definitely feels like a stopgap movie, moving audiences towards the unnamed part 3. Still, if you know this going in, your expectations are tempered to enjoy the closing of some chapters as a couple of new ones begin.

I won't give any spoilers about the ending, but the news and pictures are already out there. It takes but a glance to see who showed up to the premiere to understand the new direction part 3 will bring.

The good:

It certainly holds on to the weirdness that 28 Years Later ended on. Jack O'Connell is so good at his villainous roles of late that one might worry he's heading for a horror typecast. But if he can creep you out, no matter the horror movie, I say bravo. He makes your skin crawl in this movie and reminds you that maybe humans can be worse than the infected. Ralph Fiennes...ugh...this man is perfection, no matter the role, and he once again brings the emotion as Dr. Ian Kelson. His dialogue with Alfie Williams and Jodie Comer is what made 28 Years Later one of my favorite movies of last year. This movie has him diving deeper into relations with the infected. It showcases a more beautiful version of Victor Frankenstein and his Creature during this storyline. And who knew seeing him rock out to 80s hits by Duran Duran and Iron Maiden was precisely what I needed. Alfie Williams doesn't get the meat as he did in part 1, but he is still such an incredible young actor to watch.

Another good one if you're a horror fan: this movie does NOT skimp on the gore at all. I think it's much more graphic than part 1 by quite a bit. Thank Jack O'Connell's Jimmy Crystal for his role in that...ugh...lol.

The bad:

I would say the flaws in this movie come straight from the fact that it feels a bit like filler. Not all filler episodes in a series are straight bad; sometimes they do help some plots end, and others emerge, but not everyone is a fan of those types of episodes either. A lot of people won't be happy to see that most of the horror stems from the human side rather than the infected/zombie side, and I can understand that viewpoint. But even 28 Days Later dealt with coming to terms with the fact that humans are as terrifying, if not more so, than the infected.

I'm gonna give this a 3.5/5. Maybe even 3.75/5. I think Nia DaCosta took the baton and carried it exceptionally well. I don't fault her for having a storyline that might not grab audiences immediately or have them itching for more. I think we're in for a treat for the upcoming part 3, especially if this ends the franchise completely.