Well, this was surprising. It turns out that 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is exactly the kind of movie that theaters need today. This is a big change from my initial reaction to the first film in this follow up trilogy to Alex Garland’s iconic 28 Weeks Later film. The first film in this trilogy had some highs and lows, that left me and many other people not entirely thrilled with what we got, to put it mildly.

So, I went into The Bone Temple feeling skeptical and wondering how they could possibly get themselves out of this mess. I will tell you right now that for all the flaws in the first film, they pulled off some really interesting storytelling choices in The Bone Temple, that just might have gotten us back on track. That’s what I am really looking forward to getting to in this review. I will avoid spoilers. You should actively avoid reviews with spoilers because they will likely ruin some of the best moments in the film.

You can read the review below or watch the video review on YouTube:

The Bone Temple picks up exactly where the first film left off with Spike being picked up by Jim’s gang of “fingers,” as he calls them. Spike is forced into a fight or die initiation with one of the fingers as his test to see if he is a good fit for the group. Terrified and desperate, Spike fights like a kid pushed beyond his moral threshold and on the brink of collapse. Jimmy takes them out into the countryside to find all new people to bend to their will and this group of Teletubby, running suit bandits show all new depths of their depravity in their mission to serve Old Nick, the devil that Jimmy follows, and the rotten center of this little gang starts to crumble in predictable and shocking ways.

Meanwhile Dr. Kelson continues building his Bone Temple and living the most bizarre and complexly mad life that an educated and somewhat sane man can live under the circumstances. Through Dr. Kelson, just like with Jimmy and the Fingers, we see the evolution of the twisted mythologies of this world finally evolve in some significant ways that intersect with each other.

However, Kelson’s loneliness and madness are tempered in a series of wild interactions with Samson, the alpha male, which seem incredibly unlikely but then slowly start to make sense, giving the doctor a completely new set of experiences for the first time in decades. His scientific methods are bizarre and weirdly fascinating, but they lead to a series of original and fresh feeling confrontations with the Alpha male that give us some tangible insights into how the virus works and how it has evolved within the alpha.

The stories of Jimmy and Kelson take on this kinetic energy that is constantly creating friction with our expectations, pushing each of them into more extreme and absurd situations that feel absolutely normal for them under the circumstances. When these stories collide, the confrontation is truly epic and as far from anything that I expected to happen in this movie. As wild and as insane as the climax of The Bone Temple was, it still felt earned because it pulled together several loose ends from the first film which gave it an incredibly satisfying conclusion that felt original and inevitable, which was not at all what I expected.

First Impressions

This movie is off the charts in every way. You are either going to hate it or you are going to love it, but either way, it is a wild experience that will make you feel something in the moment. The real question is, can the memory of the film hold up to that immediate “in the theater” experience or will it shift and change with time like the first film did? I actually think this one is going to stay with us and will hold up against online conversations and critiques because The Bone Temple gives us the continuation of 28 Days Later that we wanted. Not only does it evolve the world, it also evolves our understanding of the virus and the survivors of the zombie apocalypse. Plus, it gives us a scene like nothing we have ever seen in a zombie film before. That alone is worth the price of the ticket, and that is the only spoiler I am going to give you.

I also think this movie might redefine some of the biggest issues that many people had with the first film, and it does that through two stories that are on a collision course. One is the story of Jimmy Crystal and the other is the strange connection between Dr. Kelson and the Alpha. The Bone Temple also clearly shows us that this trilogy of films was written as a cohesive set of stories. While the first film was full of absurd surprises, dropped threads, and poor character choices, all of that is actually part of the overall arc of the series that seems to have a very clear end point in mind. So, maybe, just maybe, I jumped the gun on my earlier frustrations with the first film.

The Case for Jimmy Crystal

In 28 Years Later, Jimmy Crystal felt like a weird add-on character, included for absurd flash and shock value in the story. The final scene with him and his track suit wearing murderous minions felt like one too many sharks to jump.. Between the Alpha. The evolving zombies, the pregnant infected woman, Dr. Kelson, and then Jimmy and his Teletubby marauders, the first film felt wildly out of balance and disjointed as a story.

Since that was a major point of contention for me, I have to concede that I now see why Jimmy was introduced the way he was in the first film. Honestly, it was a gutsy move, and one that Danny Boyle took a lot of heat for, but it was smart to plant the seeds of Jimmy’s madness there rather than surprising us with it in the second film because it also created continuity within the trilogy that Spike as a character couldn’t carry alone.

Jimmy as the Villain

There are two key stories in The Bone Temple. The first is Sir Jimmy Crystal played by Jack O’Connell, who you might recognize as Remmick from last year’s film Sinners. He is such a great character actor and he pulls off Jimmy’s villain arc as anything but simple. He is a post-apocalyptic cult leader with a vision for chaos and a whispering voice of madness that guides his every move. That opening scene of him in the first film as a child, holding his father’s cross and asking, “Father why have you forsaken me?” was essential, creating this moment of horrific symmetry to the completion of his character arc in the second film. It also gives us this deliberate view into the way madness can grow inside a child who learned to survive alongside the infected.

This was such an effective story arc for Jimmy because of how the two films create a parallel between Jimmy and Spike. Both boys are shaped by loss, hurt by their fathers, left to their fear, and we are left wondering if Spike will become like Jimmy. This parallel is important because it also show us why Jimmy gave Spike a chance to earn a place in his group.

The Bone Temple is a shocking, and at times, genuinely sad character study of Jimmy’s brutal madness. This is the character development we were missing in the first film, and now I understand why we had to wait for it.

Given how the first film progressed, it felt like Spike was the hero of the film, but he’s not, at least not in the traditional sense. The Bone Temple is absolutely Jimmy’s story, and Spike gives us a sympathetic entry into Jimmy Crystal’s story showing us the man’s weakness and flaws as well as how he exerts controls over his gang of fingers. The brave young boy we saw in the first film melted away, leaving a child shaped by trauma and fear. It felt like Spike should have been braver and more resourceful, but we also understand that he knows he’s outmatched and that he is desperate for a way out before he loses himself. Still, he never gives into Jimmy and that starts to create the smallest cracks within the control that Jimmy holds over the gang.

The Unlikely Connection Between Dr Kelson and Samson

The second story gives us a view into Dr. Kelson’s life in his strange Bone Temple as he continues to honor the Latin idea of memento mori, which literally translates to “remember that all things must die.” Ralph Fiennes is a brilliant actor and he is the perfect actor to portray this lonely and somewhat mentally loose survivor who has been living alone for 28 years alongside the infected. His story becomes a foil to Jimmy’s story, and we see how even an educated man struggled to stay sane in this environment. What chance did little Jimmy have?

Through Kelson, we start seeing glimpses of what the infected might be experiencing, especially as the Alpha male, which he named Samson, begins seeking him out. This series of strange confrontations completely reframes how we think about the infected, and it feels like an organic continuation the story threads and Easter eggs included in 28 Years Later. Kelson’s obsession with honoring the dead and trying to understand Samson becomes essential to showing us the evolution and impact of the virus on the human body.

Samson isn’t just stronger and faster than the other infected, he also has control over them. It’s almost like a wolf leading his pack, and there are clues suggesting (but not confirming) how he exerts control over the infected. My best guess is that it’s through pheromones that the Alpha gives off, communicating information to his pack that triggers behavior responses.

One thing that still needs clarity is whether Samson is the same Alpha male that hunted Spike and his father. When I rewatched 28 Years Later, it was clear that the Alpha in that film could sense the baby and that the pregnant infected was his mate. I believe that Alpha is dead or washed out to sea and that Samson is a new Alpha male, but I’d love to hear your thoughts on that.

What makes Kelson and Samson’s relationship so fascinating is that it’s not just violent conflict. Curiosity and recognition are woven into their interactions, some of which are truly weird and surprising, but it’s these strange moments that wake the scientist in Kelson and change how he thinks about Samson. This leads to some of the most bizarre and fascinating moments in the film. If you love horror that makes you think, this will make you think.

All of this leads up to the final confrontation between Kelson and Jimmy, and what comes next.

The Final Scene

There is also a final scene at the end of the movie that brings several characters together. What I love about this scene is that it essentially has nothing to do with the first film or anything else that happened in The Bone Temple, but it offers a promise of what we might expect next from the final film and that promise is a good one. They are setting this up to be an A-game ending for the trilogy. I do not know how it’s going to pan out, but I think there is enough here that the third film is likely to be really good. That’s my gut feeling. That’s how I hope it all turns out, and that’s where I am going to land on this review despite having so much more to say!

Recommendation: Is This Film Ticket Worthy?

So, is 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple worth the price of a ticket or is it just a bit let down waiting to happen? Well, if you liked the first film in this trilogy to any degree, I think The Bone Temple is absolutely ticket worthy. The story comes together in weird and surprising ways that have a good payoff at the end, and I think that fans of the original film 28 Days Later are likely to enjoy this film as well. However, I think you will have the best experience if you have seen 28 Days Later and 28 Years Later before seeing The Bone Temple.

If you don’t like either of those films or if you are not a fan of horror, I don’t think this film will change your mind. And while this film doesn’t resolve all of the issues with the first film it does address a lot of them either head on or from a sideways angle that is designed to make you think about what it means to be human.

However, I kind of loved this film for all of its absurdity and for taking a massive chance on a scene that no director in his right mind would put into a modern film today. My advice to you to have the best viewing experience possible is to avoid spoilers like the plague. Don’t let anyone ruin this film for you because it’s the surprising strangeness of the story that makes it so unexpectedly relatable and entertaining.

Now, I would love to know what you think about 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. I think it’s okay to talk about spoilers in the comments but be sure to add a little space so that we don’t ruin it for anyone else. Specifically, did you like the first film in this trilogy? Did you like the second film? What did you think about the end scene? … and that other scene. You’ll know the one when you see it.