28 Years Later The Bone Temple review: Ralph Fiennes is stunning

The first film of the franchise, 28 Days Later, rewrote the rules of the zombie genre. The quaternary film, 28 Days Later: The Bone Temple, does the same, pushing the boundaries of the genre by questioning whether the transformation of an infected person is reversible, exploring the collapse of order in society and tackling the idea of a false God.

Though tonally different from the previous films, it is rich in visual splendour. Director Nia DaCosta moves away from hardcore horror but adds a couple of jump scares and scenes of stomach-churning carnage and gore. The powerful score by Hildur Gudnadottir beautifully builds tension. 

The film begins not long after the events of 28 Days Later. Spike (Alfie Williams) has been unwillingly taken in by ‘the Jimmies,’ a cult of seven bewigged, sadistic killers, headed by Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal (Jack O`Donnell), who models himself after Jimmy Saville. The Jimmies jeer as Spike quaveringly fights one of them. A sea of blood and a dead Jimmy later, Spike is admitted into their gang. This sets the tone for the rest of the movie, as a poor Spike must now witness the horrific ways of the Jimmies in close quarters.

Meanwhile, Dr Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), responsible for the ‘Bone Temple’, an ossuary erected out of skulls, tries to understand the nature of the infected. Samson (Chi-Lewis Parry), the Alpha specimen from 28 Years Later, develops a taste for the morphine darts Kelson shoots at him to subdue him, which leads Kelson to the breakthrough that the rage virus may only be clouding his mind, and may not have taken over it completely. Learning that Samson is capable of depth, Kelson treats him with tenderness and agonises over solutions to help him communicate and regain his memories. Their moments of pathos are interspersed between the violence of the Jimmies and provide narrative respite.

The film poses a pertinent and unsettling question: Is isolation as dangerous and as erosive as the virus flowing through the veins of the infected?

Jack O’Donnell is every bit as menacing as the figure he has sworn allegiance to. In the previous movie, 28 Years Later, we are introduced to little Jimmy, who watches his father, a vicar, willingly get eaten by the infected. This leads him to pervert his father’s faith, develop a psychopathic theology to justify his rule and crown himself the son of Satan. He kills any survivors who have the misfortune to cross his path. Even more disturbingly, he refers to his acts of violence as ‘charity,’ which recalls Jimmy Savile, whose crimes lay shrouded under the facade of charity. Jimmy’s brutality and depravity are far more terrifying – born not out of a rage virus but a warped view of religion.

Ralph Fiennes` Kelson is bizarre as a man of science. He quips that he feels like Androcles when pulling out a tranquillizer from Samson’s body, peppers his conversation with Latin phrases, sings Duran Duran songs and breaks out into a rom-com-esque dance with Samson, but surprisingly, you feel that this is the approach to adopt when confronted with the end of humanity. 

Ralph delivers a stunning performance, adding layers of complexity to his character, which culminates in a blazing heavy-metal act of madness in the climax.

The film is replete with biblical allusions besides the obvious invocation of Satanism. The alpha specimen is christened Samson. Samson from the Old Testament was bestowed with superhuman strength but misused his divine gift to kill out of impulse, pride and fury. The infected Samson is an echo of that story. Kelson’s compassion and desire to deliver him from his fate make him a Christlike figure. His darts trigger a change in Samson, helping restore his previous self.

What will happen when Kelson and Jimmy Crystal cross paths? Will Samson destroy the Temple like his namesake? Watch 28 Days Later: The Bone Temple to find out.