Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s phenomenal post-apocalyptic drama 28 Years Later was shot back to back with its sequel 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, meaning we won’t have to wait long to see more of how the U.K. has been transformed by the Rage Virus. The film written by Alex Garland and directed by Nia DaCosta (Candyman, The Marvels) will premiere on Jan. 16, and the first trailer offers a glimpse at the horrors to come.
[Ed. note: The rest of this article contains spoilers for 28 Years Later]
28 Years Later introduced the enigmatic Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), who has spent the years since the zombie outbreak building the titular ossuary from the remains of both humans and the infected. He’s seen in the trailer putting down the blowgun he uses to paralyze would-be attackers and approaching the towering alpha Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry). The film’s description says Kelson “finds himself in a shocking new relationship – with consequences that could change the world as they know it” and finding a way to communicate with one of the most powerful infected would certainly qualify as world-changing.
Kelson could use the muscle as the trailer also shows members of the vicious gang known as the Jimmies visiting the Bone Temple. 28 Years Later ended with the Jimmies saving the film’s young protagonist Spike (Alfie Williams) from a pack of infected. The trailer shows the kid reluctantly joining the group and getting his own blonde wig to match their twisted leader Sir Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell of Sinners), whose look is modeled after the notorious U.K. media personality and sexual abuser Jimmy Savile. As is tradition for the franchise, the infected aren’t nearly as horrible as humans, and the Jimmies are set up to be the film’s true villains as they’re shown terrorizing other survivors in deeply creepy masks.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is slated for release in theaters on Jan. 16.
