We need to talk about 28 Years Later’s wild ending

28 Years Later ending spoilers follow.

Explaining the intense, wild nature of “28 Years Later,” Danny Boyle’s revisit to the iconic zombie series, can be quite challenging for those unfamiliar with the genre. It’s an exhilarating ride!

It’s been almost three decades since the infamous “rage virus” emerged, providing time for various mutations among its carriers to develop – such as the “slow-lows”, who creep along and feed on worms, and the muscular “alphas”, who use deadly finishers reminiscent of a Mortal Kombat match against their victims. In the meantime, what’s left of British society has experienced significant deterioration.

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In this storyline, we introduce Spike (Alfie Williams), a boy aged 12 who resides on Lindisfarne, an island situated off the Northumberland coast. Living with him are his father Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his mother Isla (Jodie Comer), who is bedridden. They find refuge from the mainland here. However, there’s a clear division of roles in their society: men venture out to hunt the infected, while women take care of domestic duties such as cooking and cleaning indoors.

As a devoted admirer, I often find myself deeply concerned about Isla, as she seems to be frequently lost and extremely troubled, yet no one can seem to pinpoint the reason. However, when I hear whispers of a doctor residing on the mainland, Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), who may hold the key to alleviating her suffering – well, it’s almost immaterial if he comes with a reputation for being peculiar.

However, the most astonishing and intense development occurs when it seems Spike’s voyage has concluded. Instead, he encounters Dr. Kelson, who shares heartbreaking news: Isla has cancer, and her chances of recovery are slim, leaving only the prospect of a peaceful demise.

By safeguarding her memory by positioning her skull atop Kelson’s “bone temple,” he journeys back to Lindisfarne to deposit the undead infant Isla they rescued (yes, an undead baby) and continue on his solitary path. His desire is to travel independently.

In a cheerful mood, Spike is cooking a fish dinner over a grill when suddenly a diseased individual appears. The boy swiftly eliminates Spike with an arrow. However, there are more of them, and before long, Spike finds himself overrun and forced to retreat, managing to kill off several assailants until he encounters a human-made barrier.

In this rephrasing, I’ve aimed to maintain the original meaning while using simpler language that is easy to understand and flows smoothly.

Next, a man with a brightly colored tracksuit, a wig dyed blonde with visible roots, a crooked grin, one silver tooth, and an inverted cross emblem, suddenly appears to offer his congratulations and ask if he can now assume control. This is Jimmy (Jack O’Connell).

In a synchronous display, the entire team, dressed alike in tracksuits and wigs, somersault and twirl into view. They’re all martial arts masters, brandishing what appears to be retractable poles, and their swift and efficient handling of the last infected individual suggests they are indeed the ones who left the inverted corpse that Spike and Jamie encountered earlier in the film on the farmhouse premises.

To put it another way, Jimmy has been the unseen force guiding this entire movie. Earlier in the story, a graffiti was shown with the message: “Look out for Jimmy, he’s arriving with the clouds.

And now he is come.

It has been confirmed by the movie press that Sir Jimmy Crystal, known as Jimmy, is indeed a cult leader whose followers all bear the same name (with two being portrayed by Emma Laird and Erin Kellyman). Interestingly, he has not appeared in any marketing materials for the film so far, which now seems logical.

The gold-accented tracksuit, gold chain, and short blonde bob hairstyle, along with being referred to as “Sir Jimmy,” seem intended to evoke memories of Jimmy Savile, a popular children’s entertainer who faced posthumous investigations revealing hundreds of accusations of sexual misconduct. This situation led to a broader examination of the institutions that failed to intervene despite these allegations for many decades.

In a somewhat unexpected change of pace for “28 Years Later”, this move offers some intriguing story possibilities for screenwriter Alex Garland and director Nia DaCosta. They have already filmed a sequel titled “The Bone Temple”, followed by a final installment where Cillian Murphy’s character, Jim, the original protagonist, takes center stage, with Danny Boyle set to resume direction.

In an interview with IndieWire, Boyle described DaCosta’s take on the trilogy as follows: “The initial film explores the essence of family, the second delves into the essence of evil, and the third focuses on the essence of redemption.

It’s almost undeniably O’Connell’s character Jimmy who embodies the wickedness in question, and what a remarkable year it’s been for him, given his portrayal of this year’s most impactful villain in the series “Sinners“. The inverted cross and the hint towards Savile imply several underlying themes: the undermining of institutions, notions of faith and control, exploitation, and the misuse of cultural influence.

In this context, it’s worth mentioning that Savile passed away in 2011. Consequently, any judicial repercussions for his crimes didn’t occur within the scope of this film’s narrative. The question arises: will the plot choose to portray the characters’ unawareness about these events, or does the character Jimmy possess personal knowledge about Savile’s misdeeds?

In the closing moments, Jimmy isn’t making his debut; instead, he’s the young lad from the film’s opening scene, who was engrossed in Teletubbies when the virus initially struck his town in the Scottish Highlands.

In the television screen, bloodstains mar an otherwise innocent image, reminiscent of childhood. Shortly afterward, he runs to a church, revealing his identity as the priest’s son. However, his father holds a peculiar view of the situation, considering the infected not as deceased but as “saved”.

It’s interesting to consider the extent to which Jimmy has adopted or distanced himself from his father’s spiritual impact, and if his adoption of a particularly bleak aspect of British tradition might represent, to him, a unique form of belief system.

In this fragmented society, chances for cultivating and sharing culture are scarce, which explains why the survivors cling to and romanticize the past before the outbreak – a less harmful parallel can be seen in the people of Lindisfarne, who treat Tom Jones’ ‘Delilah’ as if it were a holy or traditional song when they play it.

Previously, other narratives have explored culture surviving amidst an apocalyptic end to the world. Notably, HBO’s Station Eleven features a troupe of actors who stage performances of Shakespearean plays in a devastated post-flu pandemic landscape. In contrast, Mr Burns, a Post-Electric Play showcases how an episode of The Simpsons titled ‘Cape Feare’ is reinterpreted over the years following the collapse of civilization, transforming into a ritualistic performance.

Indeed, although it may initially appear peculiar and spark conversation among UK viewers, the unconventional finale of “28 Years Later” indeed paves the way for an abundance of potential narratives.

28 Years Later is out now in cinemas.

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2025-06-20 14:19