“28 Years Later” dazzled film critics with its zombie thrills and genre shifts, but the latter has made it a tougher pill to swallow for moviegoers. The long-awaited sequel has divided audiences with its out-of-left-field final scene and unexpected story pivots. “28 Years Later” begins as an intense zombie survival thriller between a father (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his son (Alfie Williams), but its second half evolves into a spiritual tearjerker between a mother (Jodie Comer) and her son. None of the marketing for “28 Years Later” suggested audience members might bawl during the film.
As noted by The Independent in its recent Danny Boyle profile: “You will cry. Possibly more than once. Boyle admits that this particular strain of the plot has been kept quiet in the film’s promotional materials.”
“Obviously, the core audience is a horror audience, and they’re concerned if too many reviews call it a weepie… But the first film was actually very moving, too,” Boyle said, noting such emotional moments as when Brendan Gleeson’s father becomes infected and urges his young daughter to flee from him. “So [hiding the film’s tearjerker story] is born out of the right instincts. They’re just a bit worried [about selling it on that]… Yeah, ‘you’ll weep with terror.’ That’ll do.”
“28 Years Later” marks Boyle’s return to the zombie franchise he started with 2002’s “28 Days Later.” Juan Carlos Fresnadillo took over directing duties on the 2007 sequel “28 Weeks Later.” Speaking to Variety in a recent interview, Boyle noted a significant difference between releasing horror movies more than two decades apart.
“Women now form an important part of the horror audience,” the director said. “I remember vividly someone telling — somebody in authority, somebody who seemed to know what they were talking about — when we made the first film, they said, ;No women will see this film.’ I remember we were trying to big up Naomie Harris’ character in the first film, and I think it was probably a conversation about that. They were dismissive of women watching horror movies. That’s changed and I think that’s a very good thing, obviously.”
“It’s also perhaps a contribution to why horror has sustained as a genre, and why horror is important for us to maintain the communal cinema experience, because it’s one of those things that people clearly still want to see in a cinema if they can,” Boyle added. “Their preference is to see it in a cinema. And we should celebrate that, because of those communal experiences as we live life more and more through the technology power that we have in our pockets.”
While moviegoers are either loving or hating the tonal shifts in “28 Years Later,” Sony’s decision to market the movie solely as a horror film clearly paid off as “Years” earned $30 million in its domestic box office debut. That’s the biggest launch ever in the “28” horror franchise. The sequel, “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” arrives in theaters in January 2026.