28 YEARS LATER : Tuesday 24th June 2025

I saw the MA15+ Rated '28 YEARS LATER' at my local independent movie theatre this week, and this post-apocalyptic horror film is Co-Produced and Directed by Danny Boyle, and Written and Co-Produced by Alex Garland. It is the third in the '28 Days Later' film series, following 2002's '28 Days Later' and 2007's '28 Weeks Later', and is reportedly the first instalment in a new trilogy of films, of which the second film was shot back-to-back and titled '28 Years Later : The Bone Temple' which was Directed by Nia DaCosta, Written by Garland, and Produced by Boyle and Garland, and is due for release in mid-January 2026. The first two films in the franchise grossed a total Box Office haul of US$172M from combined production budgets of US$23M. The film went on release here in Australia, in the US and the UK last week, has so far grossed US$69M from a production budget of US$60M and has generated largely favourable critical reviews.

The films open in 2002, during the initial outbreak of the Rage Virus, where a group of young children are sat around a small TV screen watching an episode of the 'Teletubbies' in a remote house somewhere in the Scottish Highlands. A young lad named Jimmy (Rocco Haynes) flees from the house after being attacked by his infected family, in which all the other children are killed. He runs for shelter to the nearby church, where he finds his father (Sandy Batchelor), the local vicar, praying. Believing the outbreak to be the Day of Judgment, the vicar interprets the virus as an indicator of the end of times. He gives Jimmy a crucifix necklace and urges him to flee before allowing himself to be overwhelmed by a horde of the infected, so giving Jimmy the opportunity to hide and ultimately escape.

We then fast forward 28 years and although the Rage Virus has been eradicated from mainland Europe, the British Isles remains in indefinite quarantine, patrolled by offshore ships from across the continent. A survivor community lives on the tidal island of Lindisfarne, off the northeast coast of England, connected by a fortified causeway that is only passable at low tide. Among them are Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a scavenger; his wife Isla (Jodie Comer), who has an unknown illness that keeps her virtually bedridden; and their twelve-year-old son Spike (Alfie Williams). Jamie takes Spike to the mainland for a coming-of-age ritual. Village leadership reminds Spike of the dangers of leaving the island and while he is free to go beyond and return at will, search and rescue missions will not be launched for those who do not return.

On the mainland, after Spike has made his first kill of an infected, they make their way to an abandoned and dilapidated cottage where they find an infected, hanging upside down from the rafters by his feet and with a plastic bag over his head and with the name 'Jimmy' carved into his torso. A short time later they  encounter a pack of infected led by an Alpha, a mutated variant of the infected who are stronger and more intelligent. Returning to the cottage chased by the infected, Jamie is able to kill most of them with his bow and arrows as they escape into the attic. 

As the evening closes in they observe boats patrolling the sea and a fire burning up the coast in the distance. A stampeding deer herd triggers the partial collapse of the cottage, and Jamie and Spike are able to get out just in time. They return to Lindisfarne as the tide rises above the causeway to knee height, pursued by the Alpha who almost catches up to the pair, until sentries located in a look out tower use a large homemade crossbow loaded with a burning arrow to kill it. 

During a raucous celebration in which Jamie calls his son a Giant Killer and over exaggerates the number of infected Spike slayed, the boy witnesses his father kissing Rosey (Amy Cameron) and runs off in shock. He returns home to his grandfather who is looking after Spike's mother and learns that the fire was more than likely lit by Dr. Ian Kelson, a reclusive survivor on the mainland whom the villagers fear. According to rumours, dating back fifteen years, Kelson had been seen burning bodies in what seemed to be a ritualistic fashion. Disillusioned with his father, Spike secretly returns to the mainland with his mother, hoping to locate Kelson so that he can provide the necessary treatment for her. While resting for the night in a church, Isla kills an infected who had crept up on Spike, in her disconnected condition not recalling the next morning how it happened.

Swedish NATO soldier Erik Sundqvist (Edvin Ryding) and his unit are forced ashore after their patrol boat sinks off the coast of Scotland. Erik is the only survivor after an Alpha and a pack of infected attacked his unit. He comes across Spike and Isla in a run down Happy Eater roadside restaurant, rescuing them from another pack as the restaurant explodes in a ball of flame as a result of leaking benzene inside that had built up over many years. Erik joins their search for Kelson. The group comes across a derailed passenger train and Isla finds a pregnant infected woman inside one of the carriages temporarily exhibiting semi-docile behaviour, whom she helps give birth to an uninfected infant girl. 

Believing the baby is infected, Erik kills the mother in a hail of bullets and prepares to kill the child, but another dominant Alpha hearing the commotion intervenes and rips his head off. The Alpha chases Spike and Isla through the carriages and out across the surrounding fields, until Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) appears and subdues it with a morphine-laced blowdart. 

Taking the head of Erik, Kelson leads Spike, Isla, and the infant to his sanctuary, which is a temple built from sterilised bones of the countless number of bodies that have perished over the years from the virus, which he describes as his 'memento mori', which he explains to Spike means 'remember to die'. He later hands the skull of Erik to Spike to place on his temple.

After examining Isla, and using the limited resources he has available Kelson deduces that she has terminal cancer that has metastasized. Spike pleads with Kelson to cure her, but he explains that he is unable to do anything for his mother. At her request, he incapacitates Spike and euthanises her with a morphine dart. He later brings her sterilised skull to Spike, who climbs to the top of the temple and places it there as a memorial as the sun comes up. After another confrontation with the Alpha, Spike and Kelson escape, and Kelson encourages Spike to go home. Spike returns to Lindisfarne alone, leaving Isla (the uninfected baby whom he named after his mother) at the gate to the village with a note for Jamie explaining her origins and saying he will return when ready. Jamie, realising Spike is alone now on the mainland, tries to chase after him, but is prevented from doing so by the rising tide covering the causeway.

28 days later, Spike is seen on the mainland by the side of the road cooking a fish on an open camp fire when not far away he sees an infected, and waits until the infected is nearly upon him before killing it with his bow and arrow. When another appears Spike starts to run but when he rounds a corner his way his blocked by a steep rock fall. While trying to evade the infected, Spike is rescued by a gang of 'Jimmies' styled after Jimmy Savile, led by an adult Jimmy (Jack O'Connell) all dressed in garish track suits, with long blond hair and gold chains around their necks and gold rings on their fingers. After the Jimmies have dispensed with all the infected, Jimmy, with the inverted crucifix his father gave him around his neck, offers his hand to Spike in a sign of friendship and respect. 

With '28 Years Later' Director Danny Boyle and scribe Alex Garland have expanded on the world first seen in their two earlier films in the series, and delivered us with a zombie flick that morphs into a coming of age story with raw unbridled emotion at its heart, delivered by top notch performances from Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes and newcomer Alfie Williams. When the violence comes its pretty graphic, as is to be expected from a world inhabited by the infected, but don't rely on jump scares or the intensity of its predecessors if that's what you're looking for. This character driven story is entertaining enough but its not great, and with that said, it's hard to judge this film because we're only seeing part of the story with two further instalments still to come. And as for the last five minutes - where did the inspiration for the 'Jimmies' come from I wonder? We'll just have to wait for 'The Bone Temple' I guess to find out.

'28 Years Later' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 19th June 2025

The 8th Brighton Rocks International Film Festival (BRIFF) takes place this year from Monday 16th June through until Sunday 22nd June in the English seaside town of Brighton, East Sussex overlooking the English Channel, and 76kms south of London. Brighton Rocks is home to films that fit with the City of Brighton’s out-there creative universe. Brighton is a hub for artists from all walks of life. It is also a state of mind, an attitude, a spirit - one that dares to be itself. Whilst it is still a young festival, it nonetheless has big ambitions - to give maximum support to emerging filmmakers and to become the UK’s main forum for indie and underground cinema. On Sunday 22nd June, the awards show will be hosted by Phil Davis - an Actor very well known in Brighton for his role in 1979's 'Quadrophenia', and subsequently in the likes of 1984's 'The Bounty', 1992's 'Alien 3', 1993's 'In the Name of the Father', 2004's 'Vera Drake', 2006's 'Notes on a Scandal', and 2010's 'Brighton Rock' and plenty more besides, and a staunch supporter of independent film.

The majority of films being showcased are short films, that fall under the headings of :-

* 'Let's Rock!' - Fiction and documentary films with a strong female voice that celebrate and explore life in and around seafaring communities.

* 'Made in Brighton!' - An eclectic array of comedy, drama, animation and music that have one thing in common - they have been made in the one and only Republic of Brighton. The feature film presentation in this category is 'Thoughtless in Remarks' from Director Dan Hasson and centres on a weekend getaway in Brighton, where best friends Jack (Thomas O'Brien) and Alex (Adele Marie) navigate the troubled waters of their friendship.

* 'Youth Rocks Parts I and II' - An eclectic mix of short fiction films by young & student creatives from Brighton and beyond, and, a further series of films by young & student creatives exploring important adult and after-hours themes. The feature film in the section is 'The Cellar' from Director Jamie Langlands in which a young girl wakes up imprisoned underground, with amnesia. She must escape, unravel the mystery behind her captivity, and confront her personal struggles. A suspenseful tale of survival, truth, and inner turmoil unfolds.

* 'Doc Rocks Parts I and II' - An eclectic mix of documentaries made by curious and investigative people of the Republic of Brighton, and, a series of powerful short documentaries that champion the underdog and probe important social and environmental issues in the UK and beyond.

* 'Comedy Rocks Parts I and II' - kick back and enjoy some unfiltered comedy that hits where it hurts. The feature film included in this segment is 'Up All Weekend with Stackard Banks' Directed by James Firth and this semi-improvised mockumentary follows explorer Stackard Banks (Ed MacArthur) as he attempts to convince documentarians Jack Barry and Patrick Turpin that he can train the human mind to go without sleep. Indefinitely . . . 

* 'Enter the Void' - This session brings together bold and boundary-pushing animation and experimental films that navigate the territories between reality and imagination.

* 'F*cked Up Futures' - Glimpses into a mad & bad dystopian world that looks uncannily like our own.

* 'Relaxed Screening' - These gripping tales examine pivotal moments when ordinary lives collide with extraordinary circumstances. Each story reveals how crisis transforms us, forcing characters to confront truth, mortality, and human resilience.

* 'Drama Rocks Parts I and II' - Explore the profound moments that shape us - from grief and loss to dreams deferred, identity discovered, and resilience found, and, explore identity, belonging, and resilience. From fractured family bonds to community displacement, childhood trauma to self-discovery, each film authentically portrays the complexity of navigating race, culture, and personal truth in contemporary Britain.

* 'LGBTQIA+ Rocks' - These bold LGBTQ+ stories explore authentic self-discovery across diverse experiences.
* 'Let's Talk About Sex' - Authentic sexual representation breaks taboos and normalises intimacy. These joyful short films celebrate pleasure, diverse desires and move beyond shame to embrace sexuality as a natural, positive aspect of human experience and connection.

* 'Summer Solstice Horror Special' - This spine-tingling late-night programme blends genuine scares with dark humour, featuring films of horrific treatment of others, the dark of the night and some good old fashioned gore amongst more.

* 'Women Rock' - An exclusive programme of wild and absorbing films made my women about women which cross all genres which amplify underrepresented voices, celebrate achievements, and inspire future generations.

* 'Drama Rocks Parts III and IV' - Examining society's treatment of outsiders - veterans, immigrants, ex- prisoners and the broken-hearted. Through myth, memory, and unexpected encounters, exploring whether redemption is possible when humanity confronts its capacity for both cruelty and compassion. And, a collection of films exploring love, trauma, memory, and identity - where music, loss, surrealism, and fractured realities collide across theatre stages, cityscapes and seaside cliffs. The Feature film included in this segment is 'Heaven To Know You' from Director Philip H.J. Gay, and tells the story of how after a traumatic childhood at the hands of her abusive mother and a difficult start to adult life, Lara relocates to NYC to start over, leaving behind a childhood of imaginary friends but also her dreams of song and dance. Her troubles with alcohol and social angst resurface soon, until one day hope comes along in the form of dreamy love. But, can you really live inside a Dream? 

For the details of all the short films being screened at this years festival, plus a whole bunch of other good stuff, you can visit the official website at : https://www.rocksfestivals.com/briff.html

Kicking off this weeks seven hot new releases coming to a big screen Odeon near you, we have firstly the long overdue third instalment in this horror franchise that sees a small group of survivors of the rage virus living on a tiny island separated from the mainland by a long causeway, but when one of the group leaves the island for the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors too. Next up we have a Western actioner that has a young man returning to an old Montana town to reclaim his legacy, but het gets caught up between a law-abiding sheriff and a destructive stranger as old secrets lead to violence. Then we turn to a French drama in which a man joins a secret group tracking Syrian regime fugitives, and with his mission taking him to France, he pursues his former torturer for a fateful confrontation. This is followed by another French film, a RomCom, about a lonely bookseller, immersed in fantasy, who must pursue her writing aspirations to improve her love life, and so she's compelled to turn her dreams into reality to stop sabotaging a romance. Up next is a New Zealand film about a Maori elder and a delinquent late teenager who form an unlikely bond on a road trip. Following on we have a doco of never-before-seen footage of John Lennon and Yoko Ono that includes their concert performance at Madison Square Garden and their lives in New York's Greenwich Village; before closing out the week with an animated offering about a young boy who dreams of being abducted by aliens, until one day his dreams come true.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the seven latest release new films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the coming week.

'28 YEARS LATER' (Rated MA15+) - this post-apocalyptic horror film is Co-Produced and Directed by Danny Boyle, and Written and Co-Produced by Alex Garland. It is the third in the '28 Days Later' film series, following 2002's '28 Days Later' and 2007's '28 Weeks Later', and is reportedly the first instalment in a new trilogy of films, of which the second film was shot back-to-back and titled '28 Years Later : The Bone Temple' which was Directed by Nia DaCosta, Written by Garland, and Produced by Boyle and Garland, and is due for release in mid-January 2026. The first two films in the franchise grossed a total Box Office haul of US$172M from combined production budgets of US$23M.

Twenty-eight years after the Rage virus escaped a medical research laboratory in Cambridge, survivors have found ways to exist amidst the infected. One group lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily defended causeway. When a father and his son leave the island on a mission into the dark heart of the mainland, they discover the secrets, wonders and horrors of the outside world. Starring Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes and Jack O'Connell. The film  cost US$75M to produce and is released in the UK, USA and here in Australia from this week.

'THE UNHOLY TRINITY' (Rated MA15+) - is an American Western action film that is Co-Produced and Directed by Richard Gray who made his feature film Directorial debut with 'Summer Coda' in 2010, and would follow this up with the likes of 'Mine Games' in 2012, 'Blinder' in 2013, 'The Lookalike' in 2014, 'Sugar Mountain' in 2016, 'Robert the Bruce' in 2019 and 'Murder at Yellowstone City' in 2022. Here, set against the turbulent backdrop of 1870's Montana, the film picks up in the moments before the execution of Isaac Broadway (Tim Daly), as he gives his estranged son, Henry (Brandon Lessard), an impossible task - murder the man who framed him for a crime he didn't commit. Intent on fulfilling his promise, Henry travels to the remote town of Trinity, where an unexpected turn of events traps him in town and leaves him caught between Gabriel Dove (Pierce Brosnan), the town's upstanding new sheriff, and a mysterious figure named St. Christopher (Samuel L. Jackson). The film had its World Premiere in mid-October last year at the Zurich Film Festival, was released in the USA last week, has so far grossed US$572K and has garnered mixed or average reviews.

'GHOST TRAIL' (Rated M) - this French drama film is Co-Written and Directed by Jonathan Millet in his feature film Directorial debut. Based on a true story, here some two years after being released from a notoriously harsh Syrian jail, Hamid (Adam Bessa) is making ends meet as a construction worker in the French city of Strasbourg, where, haunted by the memory of his imprisonment, the young man searches tirelessly for the man who tortured him, determined to get his revenge - but what's the real price of vengeance for the person seeking it? The film Premiered in mid-May 2024 in the Critics' Week section at the Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Camera d'Or, before its cinema release in France in early July last year, and only now does it get a release here in Australia having so far grossed US$1.3M and garnered generally favourable reviews.

'JANE AUSTIN WRECKED MY LIFE' (Rated M) - this French romantic comedy film is Written and Directed by Laura Piani in her feature film making debut. Agathe Robinson (Camille Rutherford), hopelessly clumsy yet charming and full of contradictions, finds herself in desperate singlehood. Her dream is to experience love akin to a Jane Austen novel and her ultimate aspiration is to become a writer. Instead, she spends her days selling books in the legendary British Bookshop, Shakespeare & Co, in Paris. Invited to the Jane Austen Writers' Residency in England, she must confront her insecurities to finally fulfil her ambition of becoming a novelist and put an end to wasting her sentimental life. Also starring Pablo Pauly and Charlie Anson. The film saw its World Premiere screening at the Toronto International Film Festival back in early September last year, was released in its native France at the end of January this year, in the US towards the end of May, and is released this week in Australia having so far grossed US$2M and generated largely positive critical reviews.

'KOKA' (Rated M) - this New Zealand film is Written and Directed by Kath Akuhata-Brown in her feature film making debut. It tells the story, set in present day New Zealand, of Maori elder Hamo (Hinetu Dell) and local delinquent Jo, (Darneen Christian), a troubled and violent young woman who is estranged from te ao Maori (the Maori world), who form an unlikely bond on a spiritual road trip in an old Ford Falcon. As they confront past traumas and each face their demons, their shared path becomes a journey of healing, community and reconciliation. 

'ONE TO ONE : JOHN & YOKO' (Rated MA15+) - is an American documentary film Directed by Kevin MacDonald and Sam Rice-Edwards and is Co-Produced by Macdonald and Edited by Rice-Edwards. Kevin Macdonald's numerous Directing credits take in doco's and features including 1999's Oscar winning 'One Day in September', 'Touching the Void' in 2003, 'The Last King of Scotland' in 2006, 'State of Play' in 2009, 'Marley' in 2012, 'Black Sea' in 2014 and 'The Mauritanian' in 2021. The film follows the couple of years from 1971 to 1973 during which John Lennon and Yoko Ono spent in a Greenwich Village apartment while also tracing developments in American politics like the Presidency of Richard Nixon and opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War. It is centred around concert footage and audio from Lennon and Ono's 'One to One' benefit concert held at Madison Square Garden in August 1972 on behalf of children at the Willowbrook institution in Staten Island. The 'One to One' benefit concerts were the only full concert performances by Lennon following the Beatles' split in 1970. The film Premiered at the Venice Film Festival at the end of August last year, was released in the UK and USA in early April, has so far grossed US$832K and has garnered largely favourable critical reviews.

'ELIO' (Rated PG) - this American computer animated family Sci-Fi adventure comedy film is Produced by Disney Pixar and is their 29th animated film. Directed by Adrian Molina, Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi, the film introduces us to Elio Solis (voiced by Yonas Kibreab), an eleven-year-old space fanatic with an active imagination and a huge alien obsession. So, when he's beamed up to the Communiverse, an interplanetary organisation with representatives from galaxies far and wide, Elio's all in for the epic undertaking. Mistakenly identified as Earth's leader, Elio must form new bonds with eccentric alien lifeforms, navigate a crisis of intergalactic proportions, and somehow discover who and where he is truly meant to be. Also starring the voice of Zoe Saldana. The film is released Stateside this week too.

With seven new release movie offerings this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere at your local Odeon in the week ahead.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-