REVIEW: Nia DaCosta Shines With ‘28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’ And Its Exploration On Life & Death

Christopher Mills
2 hours ago
4 min read

Who would’ve thought that in 2026, we could say that we’ve received another movie in the 28 Days Later franchise? When the news was revealed that we were getting a sequel from both Danny Boyle and Alex Garland, the streets cheered. And cheered we did as 28 Years Later finally came out, and it was better than we ever could’ve expected. With near masterful direction from Danny Boyle and the inventive cinematography he brought to the movie with his usage of iPhone cameras to Alex Garland’s writing, which transported us back to the horrific post-apocalyptic Britain that has been taken by the rage virus.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple was filmed back-to-back with Nia DaCosta taking over directing and takes place directly after 28 Years Later. It follows Spike (Alfie Williams) as he’s taken into Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal’s (Jack O’Connell) satanic cult as they travel, providing charity to people they come across, while Dr Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) tries to find the humanity in Alpha, Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry), which might be the key to saving the world.

While this is a sequel to 28 Years Later, if you’re looking for a movie that feels like it when it comes to its direction and themes, then you’re unfortunately out of luck. This is a Nia DaCosta movie; there’s no usage of iPhones here, and I respect that. Immediately you begin to realise that she’s not just trying to create a sequel that happens to only replicate what Boyle did, but she goes into 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, making the film her own from its visuals to how she handles Alex Garland’s writing, which tells a completely different story in the same world.

28 Years Later was a movie that focused on the nature of family as we were first introduced to Spike and went with him on a journey to try to find a cure for his mother while dealing with his unreliable father. Despite being in a horrific setting, it was a family movie all the way through, but with Spike separated from his family and on his own, family is no longer something that’s at the forefront, but it still finds itself sneaking in as a theme. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is a film that is instead focused on the nature of evil, and it’s safe to say that to start the year with a movie this demented, it could possibly be a bad omen for what’s to come.

Jack O’Connell as Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal at the front with Erin Kellyman as Jimmy with three other people behind in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple — *28 Years Later: The Bone Temple*. © Sony Pictures

The movie opens up with Spike being integrated into Sir Lord Jimmy’s cult and becoming one of his “fingers” to help him serve Old Nick (or, as we all know him, Satan). This opening doesn’t waste any time with the bloodspilling and is only just the beginning of some of the horrors that you’re going to witness as you watch the Jimmies provide “charity” (an act of sacrifice killing) to their unfortunate victims. I’m thankful to have seen this movie on numerous occasions, and it’s rare to witness people on each watch turn away during the same scenes. The word 'evil' isn’t enough to describe the type of man Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal is, but what makes watching all these gruesome scenes worthwhile is that you have the extremely talented Jack O’Connell behind the character.

His performance is beautifully deranged, just like the movie itself, and it’s a miracle that Jack walks away from a role like this without being affected because despite playing a villainous role last year, he comes to this with a completely different take and somehow plays a character that doesn’t deserve any pity effortlessly. He’s such a complex character that’s first introduced to us at the start of 28 Years Later as we follow his childhood and how he lost his own family, but to see how that event has traumatised and moulded him into quite literally the devil himself is unbelievable, and to witness the heinous acts he commits is something that not even God himself could forgive.

While Jack O’Connell delivers one of the finest horror performances I’ve seen (yet again) and is bound to stay in the conversation for the remainder of 2026 (or, at least, he should), Ralph Fiennes and Chi Lewis-Parry both return as Dr Ian Kelson and Samson, respectively, and deliver exceptional performances which highlight the beauty of this sick and revolting world. Their storyline continues from the first film, but Alex Garland’s script takes a deeper look into Kelson’s interest and care for Samson.

We get to learn quite a bit from their interactions on just how the Rage virus might infect people, and for the first time, it starts to feel like there could be a cure that could bring this insane world back to what it used to be. It slightly steps into the nature of the evil theme and plays around in that field, but without stepping into spoiler territory, Kelson and Samson’s scenes are some of the best throughout the film, and the third act delivers both of their finest moments with a bloody rampage and a fiery conclusion (Iron Maiden fans, strap in).

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is one of the greatest horror movies of this decade and should be witnessed with a full crowd as intended in the cinema. Nia DaCosta takes over from Danny Boyle for this sequel and doesn’t disappoint, reminding audiences why she’s a name that people need to keep their eye out for in the future. It’s only January, but we’ve already been delivered a horror masterpiece that has outstanding performances from all around the board. Thankfully, a sequel has already been confirmed, and after that ending, which will excite fans, I’m sure everyone will be happy that a third movie is on the way.