Finally at long last 28 Years Later has arrived. It was maybe my most anticipated of this year after such an incredible trailer. I’ll admit at the top that this wasn’t totally what I was expecting. In a world of throw away movies and legacy sequels that would use cheap thrills to build the movie around, Danny Boyle makes something that feels purposeful in its approach and execution.
This movie doesn’t pull any punches. I think that is true in its plot and in the film making. Boyle has never seemed interested in doing anything conventionally. He has his stylistic choices and his creative instincts and he never folds. You pair his style with the needle drops from Young Fathers the movie has an awesome vibe throughout.
As for the plot of the movie 28 Years Later is set in a small island community in a quarantine zone. It is there that we meet Spike (Alfie Williams) and his parents Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Isla (Jodie Comer).
After Jamie and Spike go off the island to the dangers of the mainland there is a huge celebration. Spike has gotten his first kill of an infected. But it is at this party that Spike sees his father with another woman ultimately leading to a falling out. There are two reasons, the first being what you just read. The other being the rumored existence of a Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes). Isla is very sick. She is bed ridden most of the time and has a hard time remembering things. Spike’s father claims the doctor is insane, Spike thinking this is his only chance to save his mother sneaks her off the island and they go on a quest to find him.
For me it is when Spike and Isla go on this journey that we really get into the meat of the movie. On this journey Spike learns more than he maybe ever did in all his years before. He finds out a little bit more about life outside of the quarantine zone. This information comes from an amusing exchange with a lost Swedish soldier that proves to maybe the lightest the movie gets. But moreover as the POV character he also allows the audience to experience the true nature of living and dying. Berth and death, end and beginning.
There are moments in this movie that are deeply disturbing. There are others that, if you buy into the movie, proved to be quite profound. I found myself relating deeply to the mission that Spike put himself on and the reaction he had when he reached the end of it. There are things in this movie that will rightfully make people shy away. But I have no doubt that in a world as ruthless as this one Boyle and Garland worked to create a story about the precious idea of now. They make the case of life being something that should cherished. That no matter how deranged things seem around us taking care of one another is important and life should always be fought for.
It is the thoughtfulness of the movie that I wasn’t completely expecting. But it is something that I really responded to.
★★★★
The Ambassador Almanac 