It took 18 years and a host of other zombie productions on the small and big screen, but the return of the 28 Days Later saga is official. Starting tomorrow, viewers will be able to lay their eyes on this third installment led by Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Jodie Comer. With Danny Boyle directing and Alex Garland writing, 28 Days Later intends to explore life on Earth after nearly three decades of apocalypse. Some survivors have found refuge on an island, far from the ghouls. But when one of them ventures beyond the bridge that separates the community from the mainland, the situation takes an unexpected turn. The virus that decimated a large part of England has mutated and the zombies of yesterday are no longer those of today.
At first glance, the links with the previous films should be tenuous. After all, while Boyle confirmed that Cillian Murphy would return to action one day, that won't be the case here. Only the context of the story really matters: how the rabies virus developed. The rest is all in the title, since 28 years separate Jim's awakening from this new story.
An Experiment Gone Wrong
In its opening, 28 Days Later features activists freeing monkeys being used for strange anger experiments. Despite a warning from a lab employee, the animal rights activists save his guinea pigs. The situation quickly escalates, and one of the humans is bitten. If the monkey is shot immediately, it's already too late; the virus it carries is transmitted to the human, and the latter turns into a rabid zombie. It's the beginning of the end for Great Britain. 28 Days Later, Jim wakes up in a hospital room. He discovers a London emptied of all its inhabitants and begins a long journey that could lead him to escape.
Where to watch 28 Days Later?
Developed in partnership with 20th Century Fox in the early 2000s, 28 Days Later is surprisingly not available on Disney+. Danny Boyle's film is coming to another platform. It is available on Canal+ via the OCS library. For those who do not have a subscription to the French service, it is also possible to rent or buy it digitally on Prime Video or YouTube.
28 Weeks Later
Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, 28 Weeks Later hit screens around the world in 2007. As its name suggests, it immersed viewers several months after the start of the pandemic and as the US government worked to create a quarantine zone for refugees. Families of survivors are reunited, including Don's. After his wife's death following an attack on a country house, he finds his two children within the confines of this military zone. But things turn sour when his wife, whom he believed to be dead, suddenly reappears. She survived the attack but appears to be infected. The film then focuses on showing the escape of young Tammy and Andy alongside a doctor and a sniper.
Where to watch 28 Weeks Later?
The film starring Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, and Imogen Poots is available via the Disney+ subscription.
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