‘28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’ Goes Berserk With Postapocalyptic Bloodshed 

Alci Rengifo

The makers of “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” are quite serious about delivering something that is truly apocalyptic. It arrives seven months after “28 Years Later,” in which director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland revived their famous zombie franchise that began with 2002’s groundbreaking “28 Days Later.” That was a wild reinvention, using the logic of a survivalist journey and mythical storytelling in order to return to a future where England is overrun by the “infected.”  Even more than its predecessors, it bordered on pop culture satire. “The Bone Temple,” now directed by Nia DaCosta, somewhat continues the plot but ratchets up the horror and madness. DaCosta and Garland only advance the narrative a bit, focusing primarily on the sheer inhumanity of a collapsed civilization. 

We return to Spike (Alfie Williams), the boy we met in the last movie whose father had been training him to survive against the infected, now in the grasp of a murderous band called the Jimmys. They are led by a total psycho, Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell), a Teletubbies-obsessed cult leader who has convinced his small band of acolytes that he is the son of “Old Nick” aka Satan. In a visceral early scene, Jimmy forces Spike to fight one of his minions in order to earn his place among the Jimmys. Spike succeeds by stabbing an artery in the other Jimmy’s leg. Now he will be taken along on the bloody rampages Jimmy commands. As this goes on, Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) still tends to his memorial of bones (hence the title), in his loneliness putting on classic ‘80s records from artists like Duran Duran. When an “Alpha” infected called Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry) nearly attacks Ian, the doctor subdues him with a drugged dart and begins a curious process of seeming to befriend the tall menace. 

The subhead of the title prepares the audience for a plot that stays mostly confined to Ian’s haunted corner, where he bleaches bones of victims to continue building his vast tribute to the dead in this wretched apocalypse. DaCosta firmly places us as viewers in the doctor’s plight. “The Bone Temple” is a visceral and bleak experience, combining the gory action of a classic zombie movie with the almost literary sensibilities of Garland’s own films such as “Ex Machina” and “Annihilation.” Instead of just seeming to want box office success, this movie feels like a howl of pain. Science fiction has always served as an allegory for various eras and this could be seen as a commentary on the cruelty of our world as it stands. Ian finds a surprising potential buddy in Samson when the infected keeps returning for more of the drugged darts. During one rather endearing scene, the doctor sits next to the zombie, also taking in a bit of the drug and passing out in bliss. Later, there is a hint that if the infected can have their memories restored could lead to a potential cure. Recovering one’s humanity can possibly stop more monstrosities.

Speaking of monstrosities, they are all over this film, but not so much from the infected. We see Samson in a startling moment eating the brains of a victim out of their skull, like someone plucking popcorn out of a bucket. The infected are not aware of their actions, since they have been reduced to raging beasts. Jimmy, however, is aware of what he is doing when the Jimmys take over a rural family’s home and begin torturing the inhabitants. This section feels taken out of a more extreme version of a movie like “Straw Dogs” or “Funny Games.” Victims are skinned alive, to Spike’s horror, all to service Jimmy’s demented claim to be doing Satan’s work. Yet, instead of exploitative, the performances here channel truly dark, unnerving energy, in particular Erin Kellyman as the knife-wielding Jimmy Ink. No heroes arrive to save the day. Do they ever in real life? Garland’s screenplay does not want to give the audience any reprieve from the way evil operates.

As a filmmaker, Nia DaCosta has shown skill in horror and other genres. Last year she directed an Ibsen adaptation, “Hedda,” and previously made a thoughtful update of the ‘90s horror cult classic “Candyman.”  She has a strong sensibility for the way Garland structures the story like some nightmarish stream of consciousness trip as opposed to a regular zombie romp. The true heart of the story occurs when Jimmy meets Ian, after the doctor was caught dancing with Samson by a spying Jimmy Ink. From then on, nothing in “The Bone Temple” feels like the cycles of a typical sequel. Ian is cornered into having to pretend he is Old Nick. Ralph Fiennes has not had this much fun since his “Harry Potter” days. Dressed in a black leather coat, with makeup and Iron Maiden’s “The Number of the Beast” blaring through speakers, Ian puts on quite the show for the Jimmys. Cinematographer Sean Bobbitt lets go in a wild sequence that could have been from a hallucinatory heavy metal musical. Fiennes snarls, dances with fire and caresses his beloved bones while convincing the Jimmys he is indeed the prince of darkness. The scene amounts to a great actor just letting himself go in a movie dismissing subtly.

There is no happy ending, which would only water down the film’s imagery. Someone is even crucified upside down in a gothic reference to the execution of St. Peter. Whereas Boyle’s “28 Years Later” featured a frenetic editing style, intercutting scenes from classic cinema and World War II newsreels with the randomness of a music video (but to great effect), or having his characters flee the infected to an electronic remix of Wagner, DaCosta prefers  to capture the madness without too many editing tricks. ‘80s needle drops such as “Girls on Film” become almost sad requiems for a ruined planet. DaCosta lets the dialogue convey the ideas, as when the rational atheist Ian faces off the crazed Satanist Jimmy. By letting the camera stay on Spike in his moments of agony, we also see the boy from the first film lose his innocence completely, now becoming a creature of survival. There may be yet another film in the works as this is all part of a reported trilogy expanding on the “28 Days Later” premise. The final moments even deliver quite the gift for fans of the original movie. It is a rare moment of pure fan servicing, after a harrowing journey that seeks to disturb more than entertain. 

“28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” releases Jan. 16 in theaters nationwide.