Editor’s Note: This article was republished on Feb. 19, 2026 following a website transfer that removed it. The article was originally published on Jan. 29, 2025.
“28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” is not just another zombie movie. With the movie positioned as a transition between the last “28 Years Later” released last year and the finale, so many anticipated it would be middling. However, when the film was released on Jan. 16, it far surpassed these expectations. Under Nia DaCosta’s direction, “The Bone Temple” revives the iconic zombie franchise with an unsettling, yet beautiful emotionally-layered story.
Set nearly three decades after the initial outbreak, “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” takes place in a world that is more than just the remains of a fallen society. The means of survival is no longer a new concept but an inherited way of life. The last remnants of humanity are either too young to remember or were born into a postwar era. There is now a new generation growing up in a lawless society where the real terror isn’t the zombies but the humans. The film exposes what society becomes when there is no authority to govern it. While there are some vicious attacks by the undead, the most brutal, eye-covering moments are committed by the living against the living.
The film has a dual narrative following characters from the previous installment –– a murderous cult and a scientist –– leading to a spectacular climax when they converge.
The character Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell) is a Satanist who calls Satan “Old Nick” and claims him as his father. He leads a band of young disciples, known as his “fingers,” yet each individual carries the same name, Jimmy. Among them is 12-year-old Spike (Alfie Williams). In the previous movie, he was saved from a horde of the infected by the Jimmys and has now been abducted by them via a horrifying ritual at the start of the film. He succeeds in a battle to the death against the older members and kills one of them.
The bloody event reveals the evil of Jimmy Crystal early on. He then leads the group on a journey to meet their idol as they sadistically murder the innocent people they come across.
What makes the murders so unsettling isn’t just their graphic nature. Unlike other human-on-human violence, it isn’t a fight over resources. Instead, the slaughter is all done in the name of “Old Nick.”
The religious tone of the movie is fascinating. The idea of the “Old Nick” unleashing his demons on society to cleanse can seem ridiculous to the audience. Jimmy Crystal’s subjects fully believing in this lie is one of the most interesting aspects of worldbuilding.
While older adults know that the infected are victims of a virus, Jimmy Crystal was a young boy at the time. Additionally, many of his followers were born into the post-apocalyptic world, so they are forced to create a new belief system to live their lives by.
The narrative begins to change when two of the disciples begin questioning if their leader is telling the truth. This is what makes “The Bone Temple” different from your average zombie films, because it showcases the psychological effects of the apocalypse on those who are left and forced to build communities
In between scenes of the Jimmys, the film focuses on the scientist Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), the creator of the Titular bone temple, which he built to honor the dead.
In an attempt to create a cure for the human race, Dr. Kelson experiments on an alpha zombie — whom he calls Samson — by injecting him with drugs that allow the reversion of some human characteristics. Dr. Kelson believes the infection is like a haze over the mind of the zombies and that their humanity, including memories of their life before, lies underneath.
After several days, the turning point of the film occurs when Samson speaks. At first, he is only able to say just one word, but this moment is bursting with hope. It draws on something deeply human because this use of language is like a creation of life, it’s the moment at the beginning of connection. While the Jimmys show the horror of what emerges when humans have to start over, Samson speaking shows the beautiful side of it
“28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” and its optimism in a genre that is often nihilistic is what makes it stand out from other zombie movies. While the violence committed by the Jimmys reflects the worst possibilities of humanity, Dr. Kelson’s attempt to reach the soul of a deadly creature represents the opposite — the belief that there is still good and what was lost can be recovered.
It’s the unbreakable human spirit in its truest form.
While most apocalyptic movies communicate a message of destruction and damage as an unstoppable force, this film uniquely argues that even monsters can be misunderstood. “The Bone Temple” ventures into a new territory beyond death and survival. It shows how the apocalypse doesn’t simply erase humanity but that what people choose to believe, worship and rebuild is just as important as whether or not they live or die.
Most zombie movies feature characters simply fighting to survive in a world where most people wouldn’t even have the will to live. But this movie shows what life looks like 28 years after the end of the world, when humans begin looking for new things to believe in.
“28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” is not just senseless killing. It’s not just a movie for fans of gore and fighting, but also for those who like to dwell on the larger questions of human existence. This film makes us imagine what will happen if the world ends and humanity starts all over. What language will we speak and what gods will we worship?
Ayiana Grana is an Arts and Entertainment Intern for the winter 2026 quarter. She can be reached at angrana@uci.edu.
Edited by Joshua Gonzales
