28 Years Later is the third film in the influential post-apocalyptic horror franchise, serving as a direct sequel to 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later.
It was released in theaters in June 2025.
28 Years Later (2025) Film Details
This long-awaited installment marks the reunion of director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland, who created the original 2002 film. The story is the first part of a planned new trilogy.
| Detail | Information |
| Release Date | June 20, 2025 (UK and US Theatrical) |
| Director | Danny Boyle |
| Writer | Alex Garland |
| Genre | Post-Apocalyptic Horror, Thriller |
| Running Time | 115 minutes |
| Budget | $60 million |
| Box Office | $151.3 million (Worldwide Gross) |
| Franchise Status | Third film in the series; the sequel, 28 Years Later II: The Bone Temple, was shot back-to-back. |
Cast
The film features an entirely new ensemble cast, with Cillian Murphy (the star of 28 Days Later) returning only as an executive producer.
| Actor | Character | Role Description |
| Jodie Comer | Isla | Jamie’s wife, who is battling a mysterious illness. |
| Aaron Taylor-Johnson | Jamie | A scavenger and Isla’s husband. |
| Alfie Williams | Spike | Jamie and Isla’s 12-year-old son, the central protagonist. |
| Ralph Fiennes | Dr. Ian Kelson | A reclusive former doctor and survivor of the outbreak. |
| Jack O’Connell | Sir Jimmy Crystal | The leader of a bizarre and sinister mainland cult. |
Plot and Themes
The film is set nearly three decades after the initial Rage Virus outbreak devastated the UK. The story avoids the virus’s spread to Europe (suggested at the end of 28 Weeks Later) and is primarily contained to the U.K. mainland.
The plot centers on Spike (Alfie Williams), a 12-year-old boy who has never known life before the virus. He lives with his parents, Jamie and Isla, on Holy Island (Lindisfarne), an isolated, heavily fortified island quarantine connected to the infected mainland only by a causeway.
- The Mission: When Isla falls terminally ill (diagnosed with cancer), Spike embarks on a forbidden journey to the mainland with his father to find the reclusive Dr. Ian Kelson.
- New Horrors: On the mainland, they encounter not only mutated, more formidable strains of the Infected (including an “Alpha” and a pregnant Infected woman who gives birth to an uninfected baby), but also unsettling human survivors, most notably the cult led by Sir Jimmy Crystal.
- Themes: The film is more introspective and philosophical than its predecessors, exploring isolationism and cultural memory in a post-pandemic world. It serves as a political allegory, grappling with what it means to survive and how a new generation will choose to define humanity amid collapse.
The primary narrative culminates in a surprisingly emotional resolution, followed by a coda that sets the stage for the next films by introducing the unsettling new human threat led by Jimmy Crystal.