28 Years Later: A Handsome Review

Written by Kyle Holtgren

28 YEARS LATER (2025)
Directed by: Danny Boyle
Screenplay by: Alex Garland

I have a confession. I have never been a huge fan of this franchise. I love horror movies. I love zombie movies. But there is something about Danny Boyle’s style that just screams “edgelord!“…favoring style over substance. I went into this with high expectations thinking that, maybe this time it will be different . But it’s more of the same.

[SPOILERS MAY OCCUR BELOW, skip the next two parts if you wish]

The good:
It’s beautiful to look at. The acting is great. Jodie Comer is a standout, per usual. The gory brutality was as visceral as you’d expect. Young Fathers’ score is atmospheric. I also appreciated the deeper “zombie lore” and how themes of pregnancy and alpha males were explored, even though they weren’t fully developed.

The bad:
It just felt hollow. Spike’s (the young boy protagonist) quest felt haphazard. The relationship with his father, soured too quickly and with too much severity, and didn’t seem to warrant self-exile from the “safe” colony. The music at one scene said, “this is the part where you’re supposed to be emotional!” But it was unearned. Another scene uses a wacky visual style that felt out of place. Overall, it was edited like a trailer and then a music video, culminating in a setup that felt far more interesting than the movie we just watched. And, it didn’t instill that sense of dread I expected from a film with Alex Garland’s name on it.

[OK NO MORE SPOILERS]

It’s not a total stinker and I was thoroughly entertained throughout. But I did walk away with a sense of “that’s it?” I blame Rotten Tomatoes.

⭐️⭐️⭐️
(3 out of 5 stars)