28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

Despite having some tonal issues with it, 28 Years Later was one of my favorite movies of last year. 

So I naturally wanted to see how its immediate follow-up would fair, especially since it wasn’t being helmed by director Danny Boyle.

This time around, directing duties went to Nia DaCosta, who recently got a bad wrap for helming 2023’s The Marvels. But I never blamed the quality of that film on DaCosta herself, since The Marvels obviously suffered from featuring a heavy amount of reshoots due to studio interference. Still, given my issues with the film, I wasn’t sure if DaCosta would be able to match Boyle’s unique directorial style. 

Thankfully, she does.

But, while DaCosta does an impressive job of emulating the tone, style, and aesthetic of the previous film, she also allows her own creative voice to shine through here. Which is great!

Because, if I haven’t made it clear yet, I think The Bone Temple is an incredible follow-up to 28 Years Later!

Picking up exactly where the last film left off, Spike's encounter with Jimmy Crystal becomes a nightmare that he can't escape. Meanwhile, Dr. Kelson finds himself in a shocking new relationship with consequences that could change the world as he knows it.  

Now, the movie does begin with those two stories being separate from each other, and I definitely think this is the weakest part of the film. It’s just easier to favor one story over the other at this point in the movie. I personally favored Dr. Kelson’s storyline, for example. Because, while Jack O’Connell does an excellent job of carrying the Jimmy storyline with his unhinged performance, I just had more fun watching the doctor getting high with a giant alpha zombie. 

When the two plot lines eventually do intersect, though, the movie becomes far more interesting and complex. It evolves into something that is more thoughtful than I expected it to be, while still managing to be wildly entertaining.

So, as someone who was admittedly thrown off by the Jimmy reveal in the last film, I think that story comes together in an interesting and satisfying way here; that bizarre tonal shift definitely does pay off. 

But, as is the case with the previous movie, The Bone Temple also injects a surprising amount of humor and heart into its bloody and violent story. And, while the movie’s specific sense of humor may not work for everyone, it definitely works for me personally. 

I’m admittedly sad about the fact that Spike has less development here, but I understand why his character takes a back seat. This story is more about Jimmy and The Doctor. Still, I really hope that Alfie Williams will have more to do in the next installment, especially since his performance was my favorite part of 28 Years Later.

But The Bone Temple still has plenty of good things going for it. The story, the characters, and the performances are all undeniably engaging. All of which adds up to make for a really damn good movie. 

So I'm glad to see that director Nia DaCosta is back in her element! And, while I’m sure she’s moved well beyond it at this point, I would love to know what her original plans for The Marvels actually were. I don’t care if I’m alone on this island; Disney should release the DaCosta cut of The Marvels!

At any rate, it’s a shame that this movie was released in January because I think it would have performed better in the summer/fall season. And this is a horror movie that deserves to be seen, so I don’t know why Sony chose to release it in the January dumping ground.

But, if you couldn’t already tell by the tone of this review, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple would get a recommendation from me.