28 Years Later: The Bone Temple Review

Ralph Fiennes as Dr. Ian Kelson standing inside the Bone Temple in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

Ralph Fiennes as Dr. Ian Kelson inside the Bone Temple in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.

By Jon Scarr

The 28 Days Later franchise has always been less interested in zombies than in what people become when the world stops pretending everything is fine. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple continues that idea, but it does so in a way that feels sharper, harsher, and more confrontational than last year’s return to the franchise.

This film picks up shortly after the events of 28 Years Later, shifting focus toward characters who were previously on the edges. Spike’s journey continues, but the emotional weight increasingly centres on Dr. Ian Kelson, played by Ralph Fiennes, whose presence looms large over the story from the moment he appears. At the same time, the movie pushes further into cruelty and belief, introducing a human threat that quickly proves more disturbing than the infected themselves.

Going in, I wasn’t entirely sure what kind of sequel this was trying to be. 28 Years Later carried a reflective tone, shaped by loss and grief, and it lingered in quiet moments as much as moments of danger. The Bone Temple doesn’t offer that same sense of pause. It feels colder and less forgiving, pushing past reflection and into harder, more uncomfortable territory.

Directed by Nia DaCosta, this chapter pushes further into horror while keeping the series’ human focus intact. It’s a continuation of the franchise, but also a noticeable tonal shift, one that asks you to sit with some unpleasant ideas rather than rush past them. Whether that works for you or not depends on what you’re hoping this chapter of the series will deliver.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple Movie Details

Release Date: January 16, 2026

Runtime: 1 hour 49 minutes

Rating: R

Director: Nia DaCosta

Writer: Alex Garland

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Jack O’Connell, Alfie Williams, Erin Kellyman, Chi Lewis-Parry

Distributor: Sony Pictures Releasing

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Note: This review is spoiler-free.

A World Where Survival Comes at a Cost

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple begins shortly after the end of the previous film, picking up Spike’s journey at its most uncertain point. Having left the relative safety of his childhood community, he finds himself pulled into a world that offers protection at a steep moral cost. The movie doesn’t linger on logistics or explanations. It places Spike in situations where he’s being watched, tested, and judged almost immediately.

The most immediate danger doesn’t come from the infected, but from other people. A roaming group known as the Jimmys takes Spike in, though “rescued” isn’t quite the right word. Their rituals, rules, and casual cruelty establish the tone quickly. This is a harsher version of the world introduced in 28 Years Later, one where survival comes with conditions and obedience is often rewarded more than kindness.

Dr. Ian Kelson confronting an infected alpha in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

Dr. Ian Kelson faces one of the infected alphas in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.

Running alongside Spike’s story is Dr. Ian Kelson, a figure first seen from a distance in the previous film and now brought firmly into focus. Living near the Bone Temple itself, Kelson spends his days surrounded by the remains of the dead, studying the infected with an intensity that feels both methodical and deeply personal. His work pushes against the assumptions the series has long held about what the Rage virus leaves behind.

The film keeps these two paths separate at first, cutting between them without rushing to connect the dots. That distance is deliberate. Spike’s story explores how belief and fear are used to control people, while Kelson’s explores what happens when scientific curiosity drifts into obsession. Together, they create a setup that’s less about surprise and more about sustained pressure.

Rather than easing the audience back into this world, The Bone Temple assumes familiarity and uses it to move faster and hit harder. From the start, it’s clear this chapter isn’t interested in comfort or reflection. It’s interested in what people will accept in order to survive.

A Calmer, More Deliberate Approach

Nia DaCosta approaches 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple with a more controlled approach than the series has used before. Instead of constant motion or frantic camerawork, scenes are allowed to sit just long enough for unease to settle in. Characters are often framed at a distance, or partially obscured, with the camera holding back rather than chasing the action.

Alex Garland’s script works well with that restraint. There is very little effort spent re-explaining the world or spelling out motivations. The film assumes you understand the rules by now and uses that familiarity to place characters in situations that feel wrong before they become dangerous. Conversations are short and often cut off, leaving things unresolved rather than neatly explained.

A burning structure as survivors move through the chaos in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

A destructive sequence that highlights the film’s controlled but escalating violence.

The pacing follows the same pattern. The movie does not rush, but it rarely offers relief either. Quiet stretches are built around waiting, listening, and watching characters realise they may already be trapped. When violence arrives, it comes abruptly and without warning, which makes those moments land harder than if the film had been signalling them ahead of time.

Compared to Danny Boyle’s more jagged style, this is a more composed film. Some of the raw immediacy of earlier entries is missing, but the trade-off is a clearer sense of control over how scenes unfold. DaCosta seems less interested in overwhelming the viewer and more focused on keeping the pressure steady, even in moments where very little is happening on screen.

Strong Performances Hold It Together

Ralph Fiennes becomes the centre of the film in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. His Dr. Ian Kelson is odd, unpredictable, and often hard to read, but never feels disconnected from the world around him. Fiennes plays Kelson as someone who has spent years alone with his work and his thoughts, and that isolation shows in how he moves, speaks, and reacts to others.

What works best about the performance is how little Fiennes explains through dialogue. Kelson often seems to be thinking several steps ahead, even when he says very little. In scenes where the film slows down, Fiennes carries them almost entirely through posture, timing, and small shifts in expression. The movie is strongest whenever it gives him room to operate without rushing him along.

Ralph Fiennes as Dr. Ian Kelson standing before the Bone Temple in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

Ralph Fiennes as Dr. Ian Kelson at the Bone Temple in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.

Jack O’Connell takes a very different approach as Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal. He rarely pushes his performance outward, instead letting the character’s behaviour speak for itself. Jimmy is calm, self-assured, and disturbingly casual about the things he asks others to do. O’Connell plays him as someone who fully believes in his own role, which makes his actions feel more dangerous than if he were openly aggressive.

Alfie Williams continues as Spike with a performance built largely around observation. Much of his role is about watching what unfolds around him and trying to make sense of where he fits. Williams handles that well, letting hesitation and discomfort show without spelling them out. He gives the story a grounding point as the film moves further away from anything familiar.

The supporting cast blends into the film’s tone without pulling focus. No one feels underused or out of step with what the movie is doing, and the performances work together to keep the emphasis on character rather than spectacle. It’s a sequel that relies on presence more than volume, and the cast understands that balance.

A Different Look and Sound for the Series

Visually, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is more controlled and refined than the films that came before it. The camera is steadier, the framing more deliberate, and scenes are lit in a way that makes spaces easier to read. That clarity changes how the horror plays out. Instead of feeling frantic or disorienting, moments often unfold in full view, giving you time to process what’s happening before it turns ugly.

Locations play a big role in shaping the film’s mood. Ruined buildings, open countryside, and the Bone Temple itself all feel carefully chosen and clearly staged. The environments don’t just serve as backdrops. They shape how scenes play out and how exposed the characters feel within them. There’s a sense of space here that wasn’t always present in earlier entries, and it gives the movie a different texture.

Sampson, an infected figure, standing in a river in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.

A stark, open setting that reflects the film’s more controlled visual style.

The sound design does a lot of subtle work. Background noise, distant movement, and sudden drops into near silence are used to keep scenes uneasy without relying on constant music cues. When things do turn violent, the sound hits hard and doesn’t pull away, which makes those moments harder to ignore.

The score supports the film without overwhelming it. Music is used sparingly, often sitting low in the mix or dropping out entirely. When it does come forward, it supports the moment without calling attention to itself. Combined with the cleaner visuals, the technical choices give the movie a more composed surface, even as what’s happening on screen grows increasingly brutal.

Final Thoughts on 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple feels very aware of where it sits within the franchise. It doesn’t try to recreate the shock of 28 Days Later or repeat the emotional arc of last year’s 28 Years Later. Instead, it narrows its focus and commits to telling a smaller, darker story within that world.

As someone who’s followed this series from the beginning, what worked for me was how much the film relies on its characters to carry the experience. Ralph Fiennes gives the movie a clear centre, and the way scenes are paced and staged keeps things from feeling repetitive or mechanical. Even when the film turns brutal, it rarely feels like it’s doing so just for effect. Most moments feel tied to where the characters are and what they’re willing to do.

This also isn’t the most immediately approachable entry in the series. It moves more slowly than some of the earlier films and spends more time sitting in difficult situations rather than pushing forward at all times. If you’re coming in expecting constant momentum or a return to the frantic energy of earlier entries, this approach may take some adjustment.

Where The Bone Temple works best is in how it slows things down and lets scenes play out longer than you might expect. Scenes aren’t always pushing toward the next plot beat. Instead, the movie often allows situations to unfold fully, even when they’re uncomfortable to watch, rather than cutting away quickly or softening the impact.

As someone who’s followed this series from the start, I appreciated that the film didn’t feel like it was rushing to set up whatever comes next. It tells its own story, focuses on a specific stretch of this world, and commits to it. By the time it ends, it feels like you’ve spent real time inside this chapter, not just passed through it on the way to something bigger.

This film will land best for viewers who are already invested in the franchise and open to a more measured experience.If you’re open to a slower, more deliberate entry, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple offers a grim but worthwhile addition to the series.