written by: Alex Garland
produced by: Andrew Macdonald, Peter Rice, Bernie Bellew, Danny Boyle & Alex Garland
directed by: Nia DaCosta
rated: R (for strong bloody violence, gore, graphic nudity, language throughout, and brief drug use)
runtime: 109 min.
U.S. release date: January 16, 2026

Last summer, “28 Days Later” found director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland returning to the post-apocalyptic world they introduced 22 years ago with some curious anticipation. It turns out enough time had passed for the two artists to bring some fascinating ideas, compelling characters, and striking filmmaking to the horror series. So confident were they in their return that they shot a sequel immediately afterwards, which is how we have “28 Days Later: The Bone Temple” in theaters seven months later. Director Nia DaCosta (“Hedda” and “Candyman”) was tasked with helming this next chapter from Garland, and the result is a darker, gnarly tale with some surprising moments of humor and compassion that focuses more on complicated humans than those infected with the Rage virus.

Not everyone liked “28 Years Later”, but one thing about the movie that was mentioned was the ending. When 12-year-old Spike (Alfie Williams) was saved from a pack of infected by a group of Power Ranger-looking acrobats, led by a strange white-wigged leader. Some viewers found the ending way too bizarre, while others found it an abrupt lead-in to a sequel. I saw it as a wild swing that greatly piqued my curiosity for what could come next. But, I wasn’t expecting what would come next to be this great!

“The Bone Temple” picks up immediately after Spike’s rescue, and the poor kid finds himself going from one dangerous situation to another. Without much of a say in the matter, the boy becomes initiated into a gang known as the Fingers, led by the Jimmy Savile-inspired Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell), a psychopath who delights in tormenting others in the service of Satan. Sir Jimmy renames Spike “Jimmy”, like his other blonde white-wigged disciples, after the boy completes a horrifying kill-or-be-killed initiation and survives. Feeling helpless, Spike has no choice but to go along as the gang wanders the land, finding a connection with one of the Fingers, the empathetic Jimmy Ink (Erin Kellyman), who understands the boy’s cautious fear.

Meanwhile, Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) still resides over his ossuary memorial, the titular location where he has honored those who’ve died since the start of the outbreak. Maintaining what he’s created has occupied the former general practitioner’s time, providing him with a process and schedule that have stimulated his mind and kept him physically fit. His interaction with the towering infected Alpha male he’s named “Samson” (Chi Lewis-Perry) has increased, discovering the ability to calm the behemoth with morphine darts that lulls him into a more lucid state. These interactions have given Kelson a chance to study the psychological impact the virus has and possibly discover a way to reverse, or perhaps cure, it. Inevitably, the wandering Fingers group find their way to the Bone Temple, where Jimmy promises his followers an audience with Satan, an act that would validate his leadership.

DaCosta is doing something no other director has done in this series: picking up right where the last movie left off. Every previous entry established a timeframe in the title, taking us from “Days” to 2007’s “28 Weeks Later” to “Years” (“Months” was skipped), and now “The Bone Temple” colon tells us we’re staying in the inhumane world that exists 28 years after the viral outbreak. As viewers, we know a lot more going into this sequel than we did in any of the others, since we’re already invested and quite concerned for the young protagonist in this timeframe.

DaCosta may not have the kinetic style Boyle employed in the last movie, but that’s quite welcome, offering us an aesthetic breather for this lateral chapter. In “The Bone Temple”, DaCosta reunites with Sean Bobbitt, her cinematographer on “Hedda” and “The Marvels”, and while their approach here is different, utilizing close-up shots that allow actors to navigate the nuances of their characters (and quite often the peril of their situation), the approach fits seamlessly. After all, it would be crazy if DaCosta just emulated the Boyle style.

The darkness here is more effectively detailed than it is in Boyle’s feature, as DaCosta successfully lays out just how threatening the Fingers are. Garland wastes no time establishing this, as the movie opens with Spike’s initiation at a long-abandoned indoor waterpark. O’Connell’s Sir Lord Jimmy sits atop an elevated lifeguard stand, overseeing an empty deep end where his gather. As indicated at the end of the last movie, this sadistic cult leader is inspired by Jimmy Savile, who was a real-life eccentric English television show host, known for his charitable works, as well as being an unrepentant sexual predator. It’s an obvious, albeit unsettling parody, with Crystal and his hellions dressed in tracksuits and gold chains, and forcing them to wear awful wigs. They seemingly follow him blindly, likely because there’s no one else around for them to follow.

Unfortunately, they’re led to commit acts of brutality and cruelty, which Crystal calls acts of “charity”. Crystal not only fashions himself a Satanist, but the actual son of Satan, whom he refers to as “Old Nick” and claims the devil communes with him. Jimmy Crystal and his Fingers are riveting to watch, filled with moments of jaw-dropping horror and surprisingly humorous moments. We’re laughing at them, not with them.

Garland and DaCosta initially present two subplots, one that follows the Fingers and another that catches us up with Kelson. The height of the Fingers’ terror is seen when they encounter a farmhouse occupied by a small group of survivors. Two of them are a young couple, the pregnant Cathy (Mirren Mack, who was also in “Hedda”) and her lover, Tom (Louis Ashbourne Serkis, son of Andy), both of whom put up a commendable fight against the Fingers, but inevitably experience some hard R-rated trauma.

Following Kelson offers viewers a break from such gnarly horror, as we watch the iodine-skinned doctor carry out his responsibilities in the area he has built for himself over the years. When he’s not out shining skulls and crafting bones of the dead, he’s in his underground bunker humming along to Duran Duran from his vinyl collection. Seeing Fiennes dance to “Rio” will definitely be one of the memorable moments of 2026 in cinema, and the inclusion of “Ordinary World” in this lost post-apocalypse offers a new take on the song. The special and unusual connection he develops with the formidable Samson becomes something unexpectedly beautiful to behold. Kelson uses patience, trust, and drugs to calm the beast, and what Garland and DaCosta do with the Alpha’s story is remarkable, bringing sadness and humanity to a character who seemed 100% rage.

While the entire cast is in top form throughout, I didn’t expect there to be so many poignant moments in “The Bone Temple”. Lewis-Perry and Fiennes are wonderful together, offering the series something odd, new, and different. Fiennes delivers a tour de force performance, particularly in the third act when he puts on a captivating show for the Fingers, appropriately to the tune of Iron Maiden’s “The Number of the Beast”, which winds up being a heart-wrenching moment between Spike and Kelson. “The Bone Temple” goes out on an emotionally powerful and gleefully insane note. The way Garland and DaCosta elicit empathy for all involved, including Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal, is impressive.

Boyle and Garland will most likely return for the third installment of this “28 Years” trilogy of this series, but I’d actually be fine with DaCosta returning to helm it. In my opinion, this is her most confident and captivating work to date.

RATING: ***1/2