Twenty-four years have passed since a bicycle courier woke up from this coma and walked through an empty London in 28 Days Later. The universe of 28 Days Later has now reached a point that is both its scariest and most successful form. The arrival of 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16th of 2026 has not only increased its universe but has changed it entirely. The universe has moved from an edge-of-your-seat nightmare into a brutal examination of devastation caused after an empire collapses. It has certainly come a long way.
Under the guidance of Nia DaCosta and the script of franchise architect Alex Garland, The Bone Temple eschews the franchise’s obsession with body count. It is a film that depends on the power of ideas, and these are very dangerous indeed. The infected are, as always, present on the periphery of the narrative, but the true horror is that of ideology, of the perverse belief systems that humans erect in order to cope with a reality that no longer makes any logical, functional sense. The Bone Temple is a film that is often very brutal, occasionally hilarious, and frequently mesmerizing in its swagger.
Ralph Fiennes’ horror of belief and the return of Jim
At the center of the film is Ralph Fiennes’ breathtaking turn as Dr. Ian Kelson, a former doctor who has managed to survive the end of the world through the strength of ritual, science, and a sort of religious fervor for redemption. Yellowed with a deep orange patina from years of self-administered iodine treatments, Kelson exists in a realm of the undead, having erected the Bone Temple, a massive ossuary that is a testament to the destruction of humanity.
The assumption of Kelson’s character is that the Rage virus has left any semblance of humanity intact. The experimental work he does with his infected Alpha, Samson, suggests there is some residue of memories and emotions lurking in the background, buried under the rage. This glimmer of hope, with its terrifying realism, is the moral hinge of the movie. One of the best things to happen to the year, and one of the things that is sure to be talked about, is Fiennes’ turn in the Iron Maiden, where he dances and lip-syncs his way to something very scary. This is already being talked about as one of the most daring things he has done in his acting career so far. The level of emotional complexity that pervades the series finally comes together in its final act with the return of Cillian Murphy as Jim.
Now older and more sinister, Jim is a man who has distanced himself from the ideological battles that are being fought on the mainland and is living a life of isolation with his daughter, Sam. The return of Cillian Murphy may be a brief one, but what it does is retroactively redefine the series. Jim is no longer a symbol of survival; he is a symbol of continuity. His commitment to teach and his instincts that lead him to help strangers in danger are a conscience that tempers the extremes that surround him.
Unlike Kelson and Jim, Jack O’Connell appears as Sir Jimmy Crystal, a cult leader whose devotees have collectively decided that the end of the world indicates that God has forsaken them. This tenet of brutality and horrific spectacle indicates that there is a dark undertone here that resonates perfectly with Garland’s assertion that the end of the world does not create monsters but reveals them. By the end of The Bone Temple, it becomes clear why this film has come to be regarded as the pinnacle of the series. This is not an instance of nostalgia or organic evolution. This series has developed. With the return of Danny Boyle to direct the final installment of this series, 28 Years Later has moved from being the cult horror series that it once was to being one of the most philosophical series in the horror genre.
