Danny Boyle did the funniest thing. 28 Years Later ended with an absurdist punk ethos. The dramatic tonal shift quickly diverts from the dark coming of age story that proceeded it. Knowing Nia DaCosta had to follow that act with a new movie some half a year later, it seemed like a comical challenge. Like, here’s a diabolical plot twist that totally shifts the tone and meaning of what these movies are about, now go follow that.
What makes it even better, is that Nia DaCosta has followed that ending and fashioned a deeply entertaining and wholly unconventional horror movie out of it. What a fun thing she has made, abetted by some wildly fun scriptwriting by Alex Garland, that high risk ending has now paid off handsomely with a movie that meets the moment.
Young Spike (Alfie Williams) has fallen in with a gang of post apocalyptic ruffians born out of British Grindhouse movies and the ethos of George A. Romero’s more punkish zombie pictures. The Jimmies — they’re all given the adopted name Jimmy — are led by Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connel) who worships Old Nick, the Devil, who he believes to be a kind of surrogate father. The crew wear tracksuits, some British street wear, which signals their inclusion but also the casual barely conceived hierarchy of their group. The Jimmies are out terrorizing strongholds with remaining survivors and believe this zombie plague is the work of their devil and that their job is to help provide further sacrifices of the living.
Their group identity begins to fracture when a skirmish goes wrong and a few group members end up dead, which is blamed on Spike, and so, the group seeks out Old Nick, when Jimmima (Emma Laird) spots Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), body covered in red (with iodine to prevent infection), and having commune with an Alpha Zombie he’s named Samson (Chi Lewis Parry, giving an all-timer zombie performance).
The new movie inherits such a chaotic plot and then absolutely flourishes within that space. DaCosta deals with the absurdity in two ways: By increasing the gore and the menace of the human faction and by weaving the intricate nuance of psychological and cosmic horror into the fabric of the story. She also leans into humor: Embracing the Teletubbies bits from the start of the last film, playing with overstatement artfully, and allowing a lightness of touch to break up tension, like Dr. Kelson dancing with his Alpha Zombie friend, who he is slowly returning to his humanity.
28 Years Later had an absolute banger of an original score by alt hip hop stalwarts Young Father. The Bone Temple likewise, finds great selections, including a phenomenal and spiritually stirring needledrop of Radiohead’s “Everything In Its Right Place,” this track bringing us back to the best music from around the time of the original 28 Days Later (2002).
What Nia DaCosta creates is a spark of vital life and energy in the franchise, a weird and wonderful middle entry for a series that rights the ship and then once again, leaves it in an incredible, recursive direction for a third movie. The Bone Temple takes the baton and goes into a full-on sprint. It harnesses the best ideas from the last movie and ties together seemingly disparate concepts in a very clean, genre-honoring way. The Bone Temple, releasing this soon after the reboot, finds the series ripe with juice for new ideas, and squeezes the hell out of it, until it all pours out. A lovely sacrifice for Old Nick.