The apocalypse just got personal

HL: The apocalypse just got personal

Strap: Next week, the infected are back in the theatres with new 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple & this time, they are no longer the sole monsters in this world

OB Bureau

2025 was a banner year for horror, but few releases stirred anticipation quite like 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. Nearly three decades after Danny Boyle and Alex Garland first unleashed their zombie-without-zombies universe, the franchise is marching forward as a planned trilogy, with the second chapter set to hit theatres on January 16, 2026. Shot back-to-back with the first film in late 2024, The Bone Temple arrives with blood on its boots and big expectations in tow.

Sony Pictures Entertainment’s newly dropped trailer wastes no time plunging fans back into chaos. Ralph Fiennes returns as the unsettling yet strangely humane Dr. Kelson, now attempting the unthinkable – controlling the infected rather than simply surviving them. Standing ominously beside him is Chi Lewis-Parry’s Samson, an “Alpha” variant whose towering, corpse-rotted presence signals that the rage virus has evolved into something far more complex and terrifying.

But the infected are no longer the sole monsters in this world. Picking up threads from the controversial finale of 28 Years Later, the sequel brings Jack O’Connell’s Jimmy Crystal and his violent cult back into focus. Their looming collision with Kelson forms the film’s moral and physical battleground, raising an unsettling question: are humans now worse than the virus?

Taking over the director’s chair from Boyle is Candyman filmmaker Nia DaCosta, while Garland returns as writer and Cillian Murphy, whose breakout role defined the original 28 Days Later, serves as executive producer. The cast expands to include Alfie Williams as Spike and Erin Kellyman, adding fresh emotional stakes to the apocalypse.

Early scenes reportedly strike an unexpected chord. Kelson’s relationship with Samson unfolds almost like a warped boy-and-his-dog tale. It’s tender, tense and oddly moving. Despite the rotting makeup and feral stares, Lewis-Parry’s largely silent performance makes Samson strangely endearing, turning a would-be nightmare into an emotional anchor. Their bond feels fragile, dangerous and deeply human, keeping audiences on edge long after Samson’s softer side emerges.

That tenderness, however, is swiftly drowned in acid violence, much of it delivered not by the infected, but by Jimmy and his followers. While O’Connell brings charisma and menace, Jimmy remains frustratingly undercooked for a villain positioned as central to the story. His cult promises terror, but rarely delivers lasting impact, especially when compared to the emotional weight carried by Kelson.

The casualty here is Spike. Alfie Williams, excellent in the previous film, finds his role reduced as the cast grows more crowded. Once a gripping point-of-view character, Spike often slips into the background, watching events unfold rather than shaping them.

Still, The Bone Temple packs punches where it counts. DaCosta delivers a third-act left turn so audacious it’s best experienced blind. It’s a genre-bending, music-fuelled set piece that lands like a gut punch and lingers long after the screen cuts to black.

Cursed with a touch of “middle child syndrome”, The Bone Temple doesn’t quite match the raw power of its predecessor, nor does it fully unleash its villain. Yet Garland’s world-building, Fiennes’ commanding presence and DaCosta’s bold swings keep the franchise alive and mutating. Messy, ambitious and unsettling, this is a bridge film that may wobble.