28 Days Later (2002) - 7/10

With a new 28 days film to watch, I thought it’d be good to go back and rewatch from the start. I’ve not seen this since release, I’m really hoping it holds up. Was 2002 a simpler time? I recall this being brilliantly bleak, but not this disturbing. Opening on a dystopian primate research facility, a bunch of activists release the contained apes… and a virus. It takes just 28 days to rip through the world’s population, turning people into blood thirsty zombies. It’s a simple premise, but it’s ace card is how effectively eerie the world, a comatose Jim (Cillian Murphy) wakes up in to. He’s our hero, emerging from a hospital bed into a seemingly abandoned London. This could all be done with CGI now, but 20 years ago and on a budget, it’s all in camera with a suitably desolate GY!BE soundtrack. At first he’s alone, confused, scared, like us really. Until he meets Selena (Naomie Harris) who delivers the bad news. The collapse of society is the most terrifying thing here. The zombies are too, but it’s the hopelessness here that sets your teeth on edge. Others experienced the chaos of a world disintegrating, horrible as we imagine that being, but perhaps it helps make sense of a now upside down world. Thrust into it though, Jim reels in shock. Selena has his back though, teaching him how to survive. How the virus is carried, how the infected behave. There are others, like Frank (Brendan Gleeson) hiding out in a high-rise. He’s heard a radio broadcast. Soldiers offering salvation north of Manchester. So with his daughter in tow, the four head off on a road trip in a black cab. It’s a bit generic in its second act. Raiding supermarkets, stealing fuel, killing a few zombies, but it’s got a lovely tone and the perfect level of grit. If you wanted to you could pick a few holes in it, but again you’re just spoiling it for yourself. It’s well acted a believable for such an unbelievable future. On meeting Major Henry West (Christopher Eccleston), the question is what’s worse, zombies or humans. Asking that question probably hints at the answer. Is it as good as I recall, no. It is still a really good film through. The acting is mostly solid, certainly in the main roles. The locations are fantastic, it’s got style and flare and as a standalone zombie film, it really stands up.

7/10