Zombies have brought to life an overwhelming abundance of Horror movies and TV series over the years. A fascinating theme since 1932’s White Zombie, starring Bela Lugosi, with its unusual origin in Haitian Voodoo, then came something entirely different with George A. Romero’s 1968 film Night of the Living Dead. The king of Zombie cinema, Romero, defined key traits of most modern zombie flicks. With all of this in mind, in the present day, zombie fans are found in the middle of a series known to all as 28 Days Later. A series that began in 2002 with the original 28 Days Later, in 2007 came 28 Weeks Later, and in the summer of 2025 came the more modern entry, 28 Years Later. Now we have the latest film in the saga, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, set for release on January 16, 2026, via Sony Pictures Releasing.
Of course, the original two films were written by Alex Garland and directed by Danny Boyle. Recapping it all, it began with 28 Days Later, and then 28 Weeks Later, both starring Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders series, Oppenheimer 2023) as Jim, a former bicycle courier and survivor of the original Rage outbreak. Murphy is also featured in 28 Years Later and appears once more in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, pushing him into his fully recovered main character role for the third film yet to be announced.
This time, directed by Nia DaCosta (Candyman 2021, Hedda 2025), Danny Boyle remains the producer, while 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple takes place in the UK. The first film in the series was not directed by Boyle; he is expected to return as the director for the next installment. With a new take behind the camera,28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is wildly unexpected, as it is by far the most oddly comical film in the whole series.
Explaining it further, The Bone Temple continues right where the 2025 film left off with Satanist Guru Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Donnell: Back to Black 2024, Sinners 2025), and his gang of teenage “Jimmys” or “the fingers,” who have accosted the young teen boy main protagonist from the previous film, Spike (Alfie Williams: His Dark Materials series, 28 Years Later 2025). However, the best acting award in this film must be given to Ralph Fiennes (Schindler’s List 1993, The English Patient 1996), whose character is Dr. Ian Kelson, the trusty outsider and creator of the beautiful Bone Temple. From his dance numbers to his sidekick Chi Lewis -Parry as the Alpha zombie character named Samson, there are no lagging moments.
Although it seems 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple offers the fewest classic zombie kills, it relies on the interesting experimentation of the Alpha zombie class through the Doctor’s exploration. Ironically, the most comedic elements come from the most gore minded villian himself, Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal. While there are some silly, but perhaps purposeful for character definition continuity errors, they still managed to get a few laughs among the terror scenes. The soundtrack features iconic British bands such as Iron Maiden and Duran Duran, so for fans of 1980s New Wave and Heavy Metal, this is their kind of party. The drone shots are of quality as usual, and the special effects, including make-up, give a unique, stylized take on its due diligence.
For some fans, The Bone Temple is part 2 of a newer trilogy that could be seen as either enhancing the “not so typical zombie lifestyle” of the film or as possibly rendering it all a bit much in the cheese department. Either way, it is a fairly unexpected approach to the story that definitely adds a new fun element to the drag of zombie apocalypse life.
Stay tuned for more about the next 28 Days Later film in the series, but in the meantime, enjoy 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, because after careful consideration, Cryptic Rock gives it 4 out of 5 stars.
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