28 Years Later: The Bone Temple Review
Carrot Magazine reviews “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” (2026), the fourth installment in the 28 Days Later franchise.
I’ll let you in on a little secret.
We Americans just assume London is crawling with werewolves, murderers in 19th Century attire, blood-crazed cultists, and of course, zombies.
And while you Brits can blame us for many, many of our collective assumptions (oh, soooo many), cinema deserves at least part of the blame for this one.
Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later (2002), for example, and its “magical realism” take on the zombie apocalypse trope left many of my peers thinking they were watching a BBC documentary.
I’ve been in London for two weeks now, and alas, no zombies. Blood-crazed cults, sure, but no more than in America. That is unless you want to believe the latest installment of the “28” franchise, which left much for a new Londoner to enjoy.
In what many are considering the best of the series since the original, Bone Temple brings a mix of comedy and gore. This time, the action centers around Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) as he proves zombies pine for a resource in far greater supply than human brains – opioids.
Nia DaCosta, fresh off a retelling of Ibsen, takes the helm as director, the second new face to take over for Boyle (the first being Juan Carlos Fresnadillo in the 2007 stinker “28 Weeks Later”). She maintains the series’ high-stakes and haunting environment despite a surprising lack of zombie involvement.
The fact that DaCosta is a black woman should be less barrier-breaking than it is, but since 2025 left us with not one single major studio horror film directed by a woman of color, it is a welcome change.
Parts of the screenplay border on cliche, with larger than necessary gaps in real action. However, screenwriter Alex Garland (“Ex Machina”) finds a comedic stride that makes all the head ripping, bashing and smashing more palatable, even genuinely hilarious.
Fiennes’ Dr. Kelson offers some loveable boomer humor amid his impressive survival prowess. And the musical climax of the film is one of the most rewarding this reviewer has seen in a long time. The chaos of Iron Maiden’s “The Number of the Beast” scene is alone worth the price of a ticket.
Don’t mistake this for art house horror, though. The cinematography reads like a Marvel movie, except DaCosta uses real, big-budget, physical sets and shoots on digital cameras with minimal reliance on CGI. Let’s hope a lean back towards practical effects becomes a horror-movie trend.
Strong performances from Fiennes, Jack O’Connell, and Erin Kellyman carry the story in places where the plot lapses. O’Connell’s Sir Lord Jimmy and his Clockwork-Orange-esque gang of murders are equal parts hilariously cringey and gruesomely violent.
For any long-time or even casual fan of the “28” saga, this movie is a must-see. Nothing too groundbreaking, except for a fresh take on horror’s most overdone sub-genre with an upbeat aftertaste.
In short, it’ll do to hold me over until the real zombies arrive. I’m here till Spring. 3.5 stars.
