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The critically acclaimed 2002 film 28 Days Later is often credited with sparking the 21st-century revival of the zombie genre. Director Danny Boyle is back with more zombie-virus dystopian horror in his new film set in the same fictional world, 28 Years Later—not so much a direct sequel but the start of a new planned trilogy.

(Some spoilers for 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later below.)

In 28 Days Later, a highly contagious “Rage Virus” is accidentally released from a lab in Cambridge, England. Those infected turn into violent, mindless monsters who brutally attack the uninfected—so-called “fast zombies.” Transmitted by bites, scratches, or even just by getting a drop of infected blood in one’s mouth, the virus spreads rapidly, effectively collapsing society. A bicycle courier named Jim (Cillian Murphy) awakens from a coma 28 days later to find London mostly deserted, apart from a handful of survivors fleeing the infected hordes, and joins them in the pursuit of safety. Jim (barely) survives, and we see zombies dying of starvation in the streets during the denouement.

The sequel, 28 Weeks Later, featured a new cast of characters living on the outskirts of London. With the help of NATO soldiers, Britain has begun rebuilding, taking in refugees and moving them to safe-zone districts. But all it takes is one careless person getting infected and raging out for the virus to spread uncontrollably yet again. So naturally, that’s what happens. The survivors eventually flee to France, only for the rage virus to spread there, too.

As early as 2007, Boyle had plans for a third film, set 28 months after the original outbreak, but it ended up in development hell. When the film finally got the green light in January 2024, the title had changed to 28 Years Later, given how much time had passed. Alex Garland returns as screenwriter and also wrote the two sequels for this new trilogy.

How much time do we have left?

Per the official synopsis:

It’s been almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory, and now, still in a ruthlessly enforced quarantine, some have found ways to exist amidst the infected. One such group of survivors lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily defended causeway. When one of the group leaves the island on a mission into the dark heart of the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors as well.

Jodie Comer plays Isla, who lives with her husband, Jamie, (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and 12-year-old son, Spike (Alfie Williams), on the aforementioned island. Isla is pregnant, and Jamie scrounges out a living as a scavenger. The cast also includes Ralph Fiennes as Dr. Kelson, one of the survivors of the original outbreak; Jack O’Connell as cult leader Sir Jimmy Crystal; Edvin Ryding as Swedish NATO soldier Erik Sundqvist; Erin Kellyman as Jimmy Ink; and Emma Laird in an as-yet-undisclosed role.