28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

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⭐9/10

Man, what a shockingly odd and wonderful movie. For the other movies in this series, I've kinda just said that this is your standard good-not-great zombie fare with all the usual genre tropes. That cannot be said of the Bone Temple. The other ones were directed by Danny Boyle and this is the first one that isn't, but rather Nia DeCosta who doesn't exactly have an impressive resume. But this is certainly the bold step that could add to it! 

This movie is a direct sequel to 28 Years Later which has a ridiculous ending that I hated.  Spike is saved by the strangest bunch of 90s action figures at the end, an ending that doesn't match the tone of that movie at all, and felt like a silly artistic flourish that was unnecessary and lame. I couldn't believe that this movie actually picks up there and was initially very skeptical. They are so super weird, and the violence to start this movie is abhorrent, about as bad as anything I have ever seen, and i was totally grossed out and had to avert my eyes multiple times. These characters take pleasure in torture and are always thinking of new and creative ways to dish it out. 

The other storyline is with Ralph Fiennes, the doctor from the last movie, attempting to cure the apocalypse. It's such an odd performance that I still wasn't sure I liked. 

It all culminates in a scene I don't really want to give away, but it is the ultimate odd-ball theatre kid scene that your average audience will probably hate, but I think totally worked here. In a series that set the standard for zombie tropes, this is the oddest, boldest take I've seen. Fiennes and Jack O'Connell (the leader of the cult) are both totally delightful as culty divas and won me over. This movie also attempts to bring some humanization to these characters, and while I initially started rolling my eyes, it started to really make me think. Yeah! These are guys with unimaginable trauma and untreated mental illness! You can understand why they'd want to serve Satan after everything they've gone through. The movie isn't exactly subtle with the themes, but there isn't really that therapy-talk that drives me nuts, and it leaves enough unsaid to where it had me thinking for a while after the credits rolled. 

I was not expecting to love this movie. Even an hour in, I didn't think much of it. The violence is a lot to stomach, but just know this isn't your standard zombie slop and offers some interesting insights by the end.

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