{"id":4220,"date":"2016-11-02T18:49:48","date_gmt":"2016-11-02T22:49:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=4220"},"modified":"2026-07-01T16:48:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T20:48:28","slug":"28-days-later-2002","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=4220","title":{"rendered":"28 Days Later-2002"},"content":{"rendered":"

28 Days Later-2002<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director Danny Boyle<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starring Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scott’s Review #507<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"60027998\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviewed November 2, 2016<\/p>\n

Grade: B+<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before the influx of zombie-related horror films and television shows filled the land- arguably offset by the success of The Walking Dead series, a little film came along.<\/p>\n

Now almost teetering on the brink of being forgotten, this genre presented it with fresh insight and creative storytelling, posing questions amid the mayhem.<\/p>\n

28 Days Later (2002) rejuvenated this largely dormant film category with a gritty story of peril among a group of survivors spared from a deadly virus.<\/p>\n

The film is smart in how it explores moral issues and society’s need to continue.<\/p>\n

We initially are immersed in confusion as chaos immediately ensues.<\/p>\n

After a brief prologue of a group of laboratory chimpanzees gone mad, inflicted with rage, being let loose by animal liberators, and killing all present as well as inflicting the humans, we meet a lone man named Jim.<\/p>\n

The timing is relevant as it is “28 days later” from the incident.<\/p>\n

The young man awakens in a hospital to find himself alone amid downtown London- not a soul in sight. Fortunately, he has been in a coma and missed the crumbling of society due to an outbreak- somehow Jim has been spared.<\/p>\n

Gradually, Jim meets others uninfected by the virus, and they forge through the country in search of a military base rumored to be a haven.<\/p>\n

The infected humans are not zombies, but rather, violent creatures who destroy anyone in their path.<\/p>\n

The film not only presents the grotesque creatures but also challenges the audience to think in a political sense- how will the survivors forge a new society?<\/p>\n

How will women be treated differently from and by their male counterparts in a world that now lacks any police force or government?<\/p>\n

My initial reaction to watching 28 Days Later- years after its initial release- is that it now seems slightly dated, but that has more to do with the legions of copycat films that have come after it and have been exposed to.<\/p>\n

We have become more encompassed by this type of film, both in genre and in style. Appreciation is warranted for its gritty, fast-paced camera-work, extreme violence, and the use of “infected” who turn from human beings to vicious beings.<\/p>\n

A fantastic part of this film is that it is not simply a horror film; it is more layered than that.<\/p>\n

There are moments of great beauty and tender moments among Jim and Selena, the sole surviving female other than the young, waif-like Hannah, whose world has been shattered by the death of her loved ones.<\/p>\n

In one sad scene, a couple has peacefully committed suicide, rather than face what would surely become of them.<\/p>\n

There is a sense of a human story in 28 Days Later (2002), which made me find the film heartfelt and almost sweet.<\/p>\n

Even the military soldiers- their motivations questionable- are relatable based on the world being turned upside down.<\/p>\n

A layered, complex zombie film with some character-driven elements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

28 Days Later-2002 Director Danny Boyle Starring Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris Scott’s Review #507 Reviewed November 2, 2016 Grade: B+ Before the influx of zombie-related horror films and television shows filled the land- arguably offset by the success of The Walking Dead series, a little film came along. Now almost teetering on the brink of … Continue reading 28 Days Later-2002<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[87,440,434,13,11892,402],"tags":[5292,5624,11893,2285,2284,11894,2286,11895],"class_list":["post-4220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2002-films","category-british-films","category-british-horror-films","category-horror-films","category-post-apocalyptic","category-horror-zombie","tag-alex-garland","tag-brendan-gleeson","tag-christopher-eccleston","tag-cillian-murphy","tag-danny-boyle","tag-megan-burns","tag-naomie-harris","tag-noah-huntley"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4220"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4220\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23663,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4220\/revisions\/23663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}