28 Days Later (2002) Review

28 Days Later (2002)

28 Days Later follows Jim, who wakes from a coma to discover civilization has been decimated by a zombie-like virus called Rage. On the run, he stumbles upon a group of survivors and joins them on a perilous journey to, what they hope is, safety.

Prior to the turn of the century, the zombie genre was practically dead, more of a novelty if anything. Then 28 Days Later came along. This fear inducing and heart pounding horror fundamentally reinvented the genre and changed the way in which zombie movies are told. What makes it work so well is its overall focus on the humans that do live. Not the zombies, not the insurmountable odds, and not even about surviving. Just a group of people existing, contrary to the dangers that surround them. And long before Walking Dead made it cool, it poses the thought that other people are a part of the danger, maybe most of all. It’s enthrallingly scary, visually compelling, and the score by John Murphy is frightening in the way it gradually builds tension over long spans, adding to the already dangerously intense quality of the picture. 

In focusing on this group of wayward individuals just looking to exist, we witness a beautiful connection form. You feel their sense of family, their, albeit brief, relief in not having to look over their shoulders for once. It lures you into this false sense of security and peace (a reoccurring theme; the silence is deafening), and then in the subtlest, slow building fashion, tears it all down over and over again. Every time you think you have it figured out, Boyle switches it up but never forces it down your throat, which is why Jim’s deeply personal and haunting change into this rabid, Solid Snake type of animal is so polarizing. It’s his way of showing that even the most peaceful, uncorrupted of us, will succumb to the violence necessary to survive eventually. 

The movie boasts a terrific cast of then unknowns Megan Burns, Christopher Eccelston, Brendan Gleeson, Naomie Harris, and Cillian Murphy. I particularly loved the lightness and poise that Gleeson brought to his role, especially as it completely shifts the tone from his death on. It’s Murphy however, that puts forth one of his most impressive performances to date, in a career full of them. His shift from a scared young man, to a ruthless killer who must finally kill to exist is astoundingly dark (and powerful as hell to witness). 

28 Days Later, directed by Trainspotting’s Danny Boyle, is ultimately an allegory of the days we are living in. An era in which we are constantly confronted with violence, where violence begets violence, and humanity faces an uncertain future where even the apocalypse is in some ways, littered with the same violence we see everyday, making 28 Days Later feel more inevitable, than a clever work of fiction. 

9.5/10