Nearly 20 years after the franchise ended, director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland finally came together to bring us “28 Years Later” in 2025. Following in the footsteps of the famous “28 Days Later.” and its sequel “28 Weeks Later”, the film shows us what the zombie apocalypse looks like almost three decades from now. Now, a few months later, we get the next episode in the form of “28 Years Later: The Temple of Bones.” And unlike its predecessor, we don’t move forward much in time.
Directed by Nia DaCosta, best known for directing “The Marvels” as well as 2021’s “Candyman,” “The Bone Temple” picks up where the last one left off. Without going into spoilers, it focuses on Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) who finds himself in a strange new relationship with none other than one of the infected. Meanwhile, Spike (Alfie Williams) is now hanging out with Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell) and his crew, who were introduced at the end of the previous film.
Boyle and Garland waited so long to make the film that their idea to make “28 Months Later” centered on Russia came out of the window. They wasted no time now that the franchise has been revived. Viewers interested in experiencing “The Bone Temple” would do well to understand that this film doesn’t stand on its own two feet as well as the first two films.
“28 Days Later” was largely its own story, and “28 Weeks Later” could be enjoyed without ever seeing the first one. DaCosta’s film is a very different beast. Audiences need to understand that “The Bone Temple” is, in every sense of the word, a direct sequel to “28 Years Later.”
What to remember from 28 years later
It would be better to only watch “28 Years Later” before seeing “The Temple of Bones”, even if they haven’t seen the original “28 Days Later”. We’re definitely not going to venture into spoiler territory here, but it’s worth getting everyone prepared before we head into the latest entry in the series. Here’s a quick refresher on what to remember about “28 Years Later” before venturing into “The Temple of Bones.”
The opening of this film is crucial, as we see a young boy watching “The Teletubbies” with other children and adults before zombies infected with the Rage virus descend on the house, wreaking deadly havoc. Turns out it’s a young Jimmy Crystal, which we find at the very crazy end of “28 Years Later”. This tells us about his story, which comes into play in the sequel.
The ending involves Spike (Alfie Williams) going off alone after meeting Dr. Kelson, who helped give his mother (Jodie Comer) a peaceful ending in light of her cancer diagnosis, by adding his skull to her temple of bones. After a dangerous encounter with a large alpha zombie nicknamed Samson, Kelson sends Spike back to his isolated home with the baby he and his mother were caring for. Rather than stay at home, Spike leaves the baby at the village gate with a note for his father, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson).
Spike leaves alone for the continent. As a group of infected attacks him, Jimmy and his gang of Jimmies, modeled on real British criminal Jimmy Savilekill them all in a wacky way.
28 years later: The Bone Temple is an incredibly direct sequel
“28 Years Later” sort of ends. With a pretty wild swing of tone, no less. This all seems very disconnected from everything that came before. That said, without giving anything away, “The Bone Temple” takes up these different plot threads very directly without any sort of lead-in for the viewer. There is no complicated exposition. No pre-roll text cards that catch us up on the story so far. Nothing like that. The viewer is plunged directly into the action, almost shockingly.
It’s more like “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”. This way, let’s say “Friday the 13th, Part 2”. But when Boyle and Garland first decided to reboot their zombie franchise from the early 2000s, they did so with a planned trilogy. So that was the objective from the start of the adventure: to tell a complete story in three films.
It’s definitely worth remembering Cillian Murphy, who played Jim on “28 Days Later,” returns in “The Bone Temple.” The actor made it clear that his role in this one was small but that he would return in a more significant way in the planned third installment, whatever it’s called. But before that happens, we need to see what happens to Dr. Kelson, Spike and Jimmy Crystal. Understanding who these people are and what we know about them prior to this film will greatly enhance the viewing experience.
“28 Years Later: The Temple of Bones” will be released in theaters on January 16, 2026.
