28 Years Later: The Bone Temple – Film Review
Reviewed by Damien Straker on the 19th of January 2026
Sony Pictures presents a film by Nia DaCosta
Written by Alex Garland
Produced by Andrew Macdonald, Peter Rice, Bernie Bellew, Danny Boyle, and Alex Garland
Starring Ralph Fiennes, Jack O’Connell, Alfie Williams, Erin Kellyman, Chi Lewis-Parry, Emma Laird, Sam Locke, Robert Rhodes, Ghazi Al Ruffai, Maura Bird, and Connor Newall.
Cinematography Sean Bobbitt
Edited by Jake Roberts
Music by Hildur Guðnadóttir
Rating: MA15+
Running Time: 109 minutes
Release Date: the 14th of January 2026
Images: Sony Pictures Publicity
‘Howzat?’, Jack O’Connell’s character asks throughout 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. It’s a sweaty-palmed zombie thriller teeming with blood and brains. Sweet, juicy, delicious brains. If you have longed to see someone’s brains scooped out like a dollop of ice-cream this is your lucky day.
This apocalyptic series has always been comically violent, starting back in 2002 with Danny Boyle’s grizzly, low budget first entry. Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer, 2023) played a man who woke up and became the only living person in London following the Rage Virus’s destructive path.
It turned people into savage fast-moving zombies. Armed soldiers unaffected by the virus itself became their own violent beasts. Evidently, this series has always probed the fine line between man and animals. This fourth entry sees Alex Garland (Civil War, 2024) return as its screenwriter, but Nia DaCosta (Little Woods, The Marvels) is now the film’s director.
Just as the Rage Virus physically mutated people, the series’ DNA has changed too. This entry forgoes the broader narrative scope of Boyle’s successful return last year. However, it is very weird, tensely assembled, and interested in clever new ideas as much as extensive bloodletting.
The Bone Temple continues the journey of Spike (Alfie Williams), the teenager from the previous film who left his father behind. He has been detained by a dangerous religious cult called the Fingers gang. The head of this little loony party is good old Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal (O’Connell, terrifying).
His goons are dressed in blonde wigs and coloured tracksuits and are named Jimmy Ink (Erin Kellyman), Jimmima (Emma Laird), Jimmy Fox (Sam Locke), Jimmy Jimmy (Robert Rhodes), Jimmy Snake (Ghazi Al Ruffai), Jimmy Jones (Maura Bird), and Jimmy Shite (Connor Newall).
All that’s missing is loopy US comedian Jimmy Dore. The Fingers let Spike live after somehow defending himself. Lord Jimmy then captures and tortures a family inside a barn. This house of horrors has some unexpected consequences for everyone, including Lord Jimmy himself!
Meanwhile, Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) returns. He is the strange doctor who created a monument to death by piling skulls on top of one another. He’s starts building an antidote to the Rage Virus after discovering he can tranquilise a hulking Alpha zombie he names Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry).
Nia DaCosta and Garland continuously shift film genres in interesting ways. DaCosta does not possess Boyle’s visual finesse. Rather, she regularly shoots in close-ups, which is serviceable mostly because of the actors’ expressiveness. Fortunately, she gives time for unique character moments. There is one memorable image where she frames Kelson and Samson from a long angle shot. The physical gap between them underlines their distrust for each other before they draw closer.
There are funny conversations between Kelson and Samson. Kelson quips his treatment is free because of the NHS. A humorous bromance then emerges where Kelson teaches Samson to dance, and they zonk out together because the virus is subdued. Samson’s humanisation is an unexpectedly progressive development and infers fascinating resolutions for the series ahead.
The film changes gears again with the disturbing barn sequence. The captured family’s treatment is unbearably violent and edges into the dreaded torture porn genre. However, DaCosta effectively builds scares, and the positive influence of The Last of Us series on Garland’s writing is visible.
The Bone Temple’s dual plotlines soon converge into a tense conversation between the religious extremist Lord Jimmy and the level-headed but meek Kelson. This is a discussion about Satan staged between a believer with a god-complex and a doctor unaware of his own vulnerability. Lastly, there is a musical sequence so bizarre and funny it becomes a major highlight of the entire series.
Beneath the mood changes is a theme about shifting perceptions of power. It is visible when Spike stabs a much larger man to death, Samson’s rehabilitation, and the music climax. Effectively, the genres movements provide the story with new layers of meaning. Though the religious symbolism and Julius Caesar parallels hit as obvious as a zombie claw to the face.
Nonetheless, the two central performances are impressive. Ralph Fiennes makes Kelson quietly humorous, gentle, and kind to Samson. His funny, reserved nature makes you care about this strange but increasingly likeable character. His opponent is extremely effective at capturing our attention.
With disgusting, yellow-stained teeth Jack O’Connell imagines an outstanding madman. Lord Jimmy essentially channels Alex from A Clockwork Orange. A hilarious moment is when his plan is foiled and he screams loudly into the night. This nut is both scary and mesmerising to behold. Alfie Williams, Chi Lewis-Parry, and Erin Kellyman are all reliable and resilient in their roles too.
‘Howzat?’ It’s highly enjoyable because it resists imitating its predecessors. The film probes new subgenres and is extremely violent even for the 28 Days franchise. It lacks last year’s journey but offers mood shifts, ideas about power, and an incredible music sequence. DaCosta ensures her film is tightly written and an effective bridge to the third movie where there’s an old friend in need.
Summary: 'Howzat?’ A sweaty-palmed zombie thriller teeming with blood and brains. Sweet, juicy, delicious brains.
3.5
Strong
About the Author
Damien Straker is a freelance writer and film critic. He studied at the University of Sydney and graduated with an Arts Honours degree in Film Studies. He is a pop culture aficionado and enjoys talking about all films, 90s TV shows, ninjas and watching Rugby League. His favourite film directors are Alfonso Cuarón, Clint Eastwood and Alexander Payne.
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