Film Review: 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

Welcome back to the blog readers. As you may know by now, I was very excited for 28 Years Later (2025) from the trailers, but found myself somewhat disappointed with the film. However, one of the main positives was without a doubt the breakout performance of Alfie Williams, who gave one of my favorite performances of the year. He is the main reason I was even planning on seeing this film in the first place, and I was hopeful that this would be a better film than the first. Would that be the case or would I be let down yet again? Stick around to find out.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple was directed by Nia DaCosta from a screenplay by Alex Garland. The film stars Ralph Fiennes, Jack O'Connell, Alfie Williams, Erin Kellyman, and Chi Lewis-Parry. The film, set sometime after the events of 28 Years Later, follows two storylines that eventually converge: Spike's journey into the mainland sees him forced to be a part of the Fingers gang led by the enigmatic Jimmy Crystal; and doctor Ian Kelson develops a relationship with an Alpha member of the infected and learns there may be a cure for the Rage Virus.

As I mentioned in the introductory paragraph, I was a bit let down with 28 Years Later even though I loved the trailers. The reviews were solid, but it felt like there was something missing. The reviews for this film, however, were far better than that of he first film, and I found myself looking forward to seeing it, only to see if I thought it would be an improvement. Thank you to Nia DaCosta for proving me wrong on this franchise, because this film was damn good. The performances (especially from Ralph Fiennes and Chi Lewis-Parry) were incredible, as was the score and the writing of the film, but I did not like the decision to sideline Alfie Williams until the second half of the film.

I mentioned very much liking the performances of this film, but chief among them has to be that of Ralph Fiennes. As my boy John Campea says, Fiennes is the best actor in the world right now to not have an Academy Award, and it is very hard to argue with him on that point. Truthfully, he should have won for Conclave (2024). We got some flashes of brilliance in his short tenure in the first film, but he is a major piece of the puzzle in this film and he again proves Campea's (and my) point. He brings a subtlety to the character that also serves as power, and these are traits only he could pull off in a film like this. You wholeheartedly feel for his character in his plight, and the ending legitimately made me feel sad for his character. Ian Kelson is a brilliant character brought to life by one of the greats in the business today.

I next want to talk about the performance of someone I did not expect to talk about going into the film, and that is of actor Chi Lewis-Parry. The former MMA fighter-turned-actor has appeared in small roles in projects such as Slow Horses (2022-), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), and The Running Man (2025) (and obviously 28 Years Later), but he gets significantly more to do in this film, and he absolutely shocked me with how good he was as the character Samson. From the trailers, you may get the idea that he is just this over-exuberant, broody, and brainless brawny member of the infected. But when we get to see some of the little things that make the performance work so well, you are left to wonder where this guy has been. From subtle grunts to overall facial acting, Lewis-Parry really surprised me with what he was able to do in this film.

The next point of praise I want to give to this film has to do with the music of the film. The English band Young Fathers were responsible for the score for 28 Years Later, and I was totally in love with that score. Composing duties were handled this time around by Hildur Guðnadóttir (aka the Oscar-winning director of Joker (2019)), and her score was completely haunting. She takes some of the best work that Young Fathers were able to accomplish and amplify it to give this score a feeling of self and sensibility. Not only did Guðnadóttir perfectly encapsulate the apocalypse, the licensed music is some of the best of the year so far (even though this is only the second film of 2026). Everyone from Duran Duran to Iron Maiden made this soundtrack feel metal as hell.

Next up, I want to talk about the script. If you remember my review for the first film, you would know one of the major issues I had with that film was the story and how it felt very disjointed. With this film, I sort of feel the same way, but it is redeemed by an incredible script regarding the idea of faith and devotion. How these themes are handled in our two main characters for this installment (Ian Kelson and "Sir Lord" Jimmy Crystal) really lend themselves to the message that when the world turns to shit, so do people and their morality. I loved the final confrontation in the titular Bone Temple and I love the thrills that we get this time around, but it was a tad too loud for my liking.

I want to end this review by talking about my favorite aspect of 28 Years Later. As I alluded to in the introductory paragraph, Alfie Williams gave one of my favorite performances of 2025 as Spike. I was hopeful he would get a more meaty role in this film than he did in the first film, but I was sadly disappointed in this one story choice. I absolutely hate how he was sidelined until the second half of the film. I get that he never wanted to join the Fingers gang, but I wish the film would have made more of an effort to show him actively resisting them in the first half. Not only that, Alex Garland seems to have remembered he had Williams in the film in the second half, when he becomes a pivotal character to the main confrontation between Kelson and Crystal.

In conclusion, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is a vast improvement over 28 Years Later with more emphasis on character work and tighter dialogue that makes for a damn good time. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.