One of the big successes of last year was the return of Danny Boyle to the 28 Days Later films, 28 Years Later. The end of the film left many confused, but now we get the follow-up, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, and as a middle film to a trilogy, it not only manages to answer the questions needed but puts an extra spin on the events of past movies, as well as being a brutal, unsettling and superb horror.

Spike, the young boy from the island, has been captured by The Jimmys, a gang led by Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal, and is forced into a world of violence as they roam the land looking for those not affected by the rage infection to terrorise. Meanwhile, Dr Ian Kelson, the man who lives in the bone temple structure, has discovered a way to tame an alpha male named Samson and, in the process, wishes to find an antidote to the deadly virus.

Taking over the directing reins from Danny Boyle, Nina DeCosta, whose previous works include the Candyman reboot, Hedda, and The Marvels, continues the atmospheric world created in the previous films and splits the tale into two. Spike is no longer the real focus of this tale, but the differences between the kind Doctor and the viciousness of the Jimmys, a gang reminiscent of that in A Clockwork Orange.

Dressed with tracks suits, blonde wigs and gold chains, The Jimmys are a group of youngsters looking for a leader, almost like a cult, with Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal at the head of the gang, delivering long speeches to persuade them that the ‘Old Nick’ is leading their way and that their brutal acts of violence are called ‘charity’. While we witness more horror from the gang than you would see from the rage victims, including one really difficult and torturous sequence in a barn, we follow Dr Kelson as he tries to tame the giant Samson, a leader of rage victims, with a mind-numbing drug and an odd friendship forms.

The film throws up so many impressive set pieces and raises the question of who is deadlier, the zombies or the humans who have survived. The Jimmys are feral and willing to do anything to prove their power, though the final act is a superb sequence in which the two worlds collide and we witness a brilliant mind game between Sir Lord Jimmy and the doctor, with a brilliant use of Iron Maiden’s “Number of the Beast.”

This is a tough, gruelling watch where the horror is in your face, and the tension is always ramped up. Visually, it looks magnificent, but nothing is left to your imagination, and you long for some light relief, which does appear a number of times, especially in the aforementioned sequence, which is both hilarious and unsettling.

The film also features two actors who give it everything they have. Ralph Fiennes returns as the doctor, covered in orange iodine, and seems to be having a blast as he dances and sings to Duran Duran songs, gently tries to calm the monstrous giant, and, in one scene, it becomes surprisingly emotional. Jack O’Connell as Sir Lord Jack steals the film with his pitch-perfect Scottish accent, which sometimes sounds more like Ewan McGregor, and whose air of evil is as tortured and vicious as Malcolm McDowell’s Alex in A Clockwork Orange. It’s an unforgettably nasty performance.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is as good as the previous film, and by the end, there is hope for the third part, which is hopefully coming before the year is out. If you are a fan of the series, you will love it. If you are a little bit screamish, it may not be for you, but whatever your view, this is an intelligent, sometimes graphic horror that will stay with you long after the lights have come up in the cinema.

4 out fo 5

Director: Nina DeCosta

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Jack O’Connell, Alfie Williams, Erin Kellyman, Chi Lewis-Parry, Emma Laird, Connor Newall, Maura Bird, Ghazi Al Ruffai, Robert Rhodes, Sam Locke

Written by: Alex Garland

Running Time: 109 mins

Cert: 18

Release date: 16th January 2026