WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for 28 Years Later.Director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland’s new movie,28 Years Later, has a lot to say about the real world with its post-apocalyptic, zombie-filled adventure. Taking place nearly three decades after the Rage Virus outbreak in the United Kingdom,28 Years Laterfollows the members of an island community on Holy Island that has separated itself from the mainland and the infected people living there.
Like28 Days Laterand28 Weeks Later, Boyle and Garland’s latest film has a lot to say about the dark side of humanity throughout history. However, since it took a while for the franchise’s third film to come out,28 Days Latermade changes to the storythat had been set up in previous films, specifically how the Rage Virus spread to mainland Europe. This was done so that the new story could connect with modern audiences and address more relevant issues, such as Brexit, COVID-19, British imperialism, and toxic masculinity.
28 Years Later Is A Commentary On Brexit
The Story Is Set In A Quarantined UK
To recontextualize the threequel for modern audiences,28 Years Laterretconned the preceding filmto have its story address Brexit, the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union.The new movie achieves this by cutting the UK off from the rest of the world, except that this was done to quarantine the country and prevent the Rage Virus from spreading to other countries again. This concept is crucial to the film’s message of how real-world Britain has isolated itself from Europe with Brexit and now seems to be tearing itself apart, with Brexit itself exposing the country’s inner conflict.
Britain’s history of conflict with itself is embodied by how the human inhabitants of Holy Island continue to fight against the infected, who are considered humans deep down, in28 Years Later. It is also quite fitting that the movie takes place on Holy Island in Northeastern England,an area where the majority of people voted to separate from the European Union, despite long feeling neglected by world governments.
28 Years Later Is About Covid-19
It Brings Up Haunting Memories Of The Global Pandemic
Although the Rage Virus isn’t that different from how it was initially presented in28 Days Later, the franchise’s new movie hits closer to home following the COVID-19 pandemic. It appears that COVID was one of the biggest influences on Boyle and Garland when making28 Years Later, asthe film depicts a country that has been cut off from the rest of the worldto prevent a global pandemic. Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Spike (Alfie Williams) are also nearly kept out of Holy Island out of fear of infection, similar to how people practiced social distancing.
This conveys human resilience in the face of adversity as they come together, support each other, and rebuild civilization.
The movie features multiple shots of empty locations in the quarantined country, including houses, churches, and entire neighborhoods, conjuring memories of the era that had been lost to the virus. Though the Rage Virus has all but wiped out the human population of the UK,28 Years Laterstill shows some survivors creating their own communities and fighting back against the infected.This conveys human resilience in the face of adversityas they come together, support each other, and rebuild civilization.
28 Years Later Is About British Imperialism & Identity
28 Years Later Explores Britain’s Pride In Its Bloody History
Like the franchise’s first film,28 Years Laterhighlights Britain’s history of war and imperialism, and how that history has been ingrained in the nation’s identity. Throughout the film,28 Years Laterfeatures images of monarchs and old footage of Britain’s soldiers fighting in wars from the past, including World War II. This history is also conveyed through thevoiceover reciting Rudyard Kipling’s poem “Boots,“which highlights the horrors of war as British soldiers march through South Africa during the Second Boer War.
Despite Britain’s history of violence, in28 Years Later, the survivors attempt to uphold their country’s ideals of strength and valorby making their children become soldiers like in days of old. This is shown in how Jamie and his community try to fully initiate Spike into their ranks by having him hunt and kill thewild infected people in28 Years Later. However, Spike knows he isn’t a soldier seeking glory, as he didn’t want to lie about killing the Alpha or execute the infected man hanging from a ceiling.
28 Years Later Is About Toxic Masculinity
The Movie Explores The Darkness In The Hearts Of Men
Connected to the film’s theme of violence is its exploration of toxic masculinity. This issue was also explored in28 Days Later,with a group of soldiers luring women to their base to turn them into sex slaves. However, this topic feels even more relevant today as audiences have become more aware in the post-#MeToo era. In Holy Island’s community,boys like Spike are trained to go out and kill infected peoplein their transition to “manhood.” Meanwhile, many of the women on the island seem to have been relegated to tending to the home front like traditional “housewives.”
Even when Isla (Jodie Comer) is sick and near death, Jamie shows no respect for her wishes and lies to her so he can take Spike out for a hunt on the mainland. He even commits adultery with another woman (Amy Cameron) to satisfy his sexual urges, horrifying Spike. Overall, Jamie seems to have given up on his wife, ashe treats her like she is already dead.
This toxic masculinity is even seen among the infected, withthe Alphas being ultra-macho giants filled with primal furythanks to the steroid-like effect of the Rage Virus. Spike breaks the male characters' trend of anger, violence, and sexism by refusing to kill an infected man and trying to get Isla help from Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) instead of letting her die. Likewise, Isla shows more care and empathy than the men as she helps a pregnant infected woman (Celi Crossland) give birth and protect her child instead of killing them both.
Despite being set in an alternate version of the UK,28 Years Later’sstorysays a lot about the country and its history in the real world. Many audiences can relate to the characters' experiences in the film as they fight among themselves in an isolated nation ravaged by a plague. Had28 Years Laterbeen made years earlier, the story would’ve likely been quite different from the one seen in theaters, as the current film may not have appealed to audiences then as it does now.
