28 Years Later

Alfie Williams and Ralph Fiennes

28 Years Later is not an afterthought or a superfluous sequel, but the best film thus far in the zombie franchise. Director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland, now an auteur in his own right, are back with the franchise after skipping 2007's 28 Weeks Later. The new film has the same back story, a virus has contaminated the UK turning those infected into zombies, but with new characters and a more rural setting. We are introduced to a community on the tidal island of Lindisfarne in Northumberland. The isle has a causeway that links it to the mainland at low tide. The islanders, thus, have to man fortifications to keep the zombies off the island. The main characters are a stoic father (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), his deathly ill wife (Jodie Comer), and their twelve year old son, Spike (Alfie Williams).

The islanders are shown to be on a war footing, focused on tasks that will ensure survival and stave off the zombies. Because of the breakdown of modern society and conveniences in the UK, the lifestyle of the islanders has regressed to that of the Medieval era. Bows and arrows not guns are the weapons now. Boyle and Garland interweave their portrait of the islanders with footage of a martial England through the ages: not only newsreel shots of civilian preparedness for World Wars 1 and 2, but shots of Laurence Olivier as Henry V commanding his archers against the French. This conveys that the resolve of the islanders is similar to that of their forebears, but also that violence is as English as mince pie.

The first act of the film revolves around a journey to the mainland that Spike must endure as a rite of manhood. His Dad travels with Spike to assist him in his first kill of a zombie. As in all cultures, youth must steel themselves in order to survive the travails of adulthood. Unfortunately, this proves to be decidedly more unpleasant and dangerous than a visit to the DMV. Spike and his father survive the trip and are feted by the islanders. Acclaimed as a hero, Spike is uneasy. He feels he did not behave heroically or even competently. He has not the maturity or wisdom to know yet that society lies for its own sake. Heroes, particularly war heroes, receive adulation because society would rather not contemplate the barbarity that ensures its society. Society would rather embroider a heroic legend than face the truth.

Ralph Fiennes and Jodie Comer

Spike is further disillusioned when he spies his father hooking up with a comely maiden. Enraged, he bolts from the island with his addled mother in tow. He has heard about the presence of a mysterious physician on the mainland who he hopes will cure his mother. Thus begins a hero's journey egged on by Oedipal resentment. Over the course of his journey, Spike will meet three father figures (Edvin Ryding, Ralph Fiennes, and Jack O'Connell) who will each add to Spike's maturation and knowledge of the world. Boyle handles his cast adroitly and films the action thrillingly. Garland's script expertly alternates sequences of action with moments of contemplation. The score by Scottish group Young Fathers is hauntingly appropriate. I'm ready for the sequel.