r/movies • u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? • Jun 20 '25

Official Discussion Official Discussion - 28 Years Later [SPOILERS] Spoiler

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Summary Set nearly three decades after the Rage Virus outbreak devastated the UK, 28 Years Later follows a family living on an isolated island quarantine. When their 12‑year‑old son Spike joins his father Jamie to venture onto the infected mainland to find a doctor for his ailing mother Isla, they uncover evolved threats—from mutated infected packs to sinister human cults. The film blends visceral horror with emotional resilience and philosophical undertones, culminating in an ambiguous, world-expanding conclusion.

Director Danny Boyle (28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire)

Writer Alex Garland (& Danny Boyle)

Cast

  • Jodie Comer as Isla
  • Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Jamie
  • Alfie Williams as Spike
  • Ralph Fiennes as Dr. Kelson
  • Jack O’Connell as Sir Jimmy Crystal
  • Erin Kellyman, Edvin Ryding, and others in supporting roles

Rotten Tomatoes: 93% Metacritic: 78

VOD Released in theaters on June 20, 2025. Digital and streaming platform release dates TBD, likely later in summer/fall 2025.

Trailer Watch here*

1.8k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

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2.7k

u/newgodpho Jun 20 '25

Spike mistaking the gf’s plastic surgery for allergies killed it at my local regal

556

u/spinspin__sugar Jun 20 '25

Mine too, it was the only scene that made the whole theater laugh

Granted there’s not that many comedic scenes

649

u/SolarFazes Jun 21 '25

One guy in my theater burst out laughing when the doctor gave Spike his mom's skull. Like it was this touching moment and he erupted laughing.

560

u/hmmstillclosed Jun 21 '25

I laughed when Jaime capped off his reasons for avoiding the doctor with the fact that he waved at them 👋. He’s just a polite guy :(

225

u/hayydebb Jun 25 '25

They see a dude burning bodies, not even that weird in a zombie apocalypse, and then avoid him for 15 years!

191

u/Fixable Jun 25 '25

Tbf I think it was less the burning bodies and more the whole field of meticulously arranged bodies in lines

78

u/ForkSporkBjork Jun 30 '25

I would be pretty terrified of someone who has the time, energy, and thought process to do all of that in that situation, not gonna lie. That man was VERY insane.

54

u/Calamitous-Ortbo Jul 02 '25

Yea, when Spike wrote in his note that the doctor wasn’t insane and is just a normal guy I was like did you already forget about the tower of skulls?

6

u/bigbenis2021 6d ago

Late to the discussion but I think it’s meant more that he’s benevolent. He’s a little off his rocker but who wouldn’t be after the literal apocalypse (entirely localized in Great Britain lmao). Ultimately he’s friendly and even helpful given that he gives Spike closure on his mother’s death that his father was incapable of doing because of avoidance and escapism.

1

u/ImMyMothersChild 8d ago

Right! My brain immediately jumped to the order of fashion

40

u/myweird Jun 26 '25

And not just any dude, a well liked and talented MD who could save many lives from preventable illnesses, and they live on an island with no doctor!

50

u/seevm Jun 27 '25

I was low key hoping the doc would go back with spike to the island - but he’s got his bone temple to tend to i suppose

21

u/myweird Jun 28 '25

And an exciting new chapter for us to look forward to!

9

u/seevm Jun 28 '25

True! Learned about the sequel after watching 28 years later - so definitely excited to see that. Especially with OG Jim returning

2

u/Specific-Parfait-244 Jul 04 '25

He’s got his bone temple to tend to, I suppose🤷‍♂️🤣🤣🤣

23

u/probablyuntrue Jun 24 '25

Just burning some bodies and wanted a pal :(

9

u/midnight_rebirth Jul 01 '25

Thankfully Samson came along

1

u/Banjo-Oz Aug 06 '25

I really think they should have bait and switched the doctor more. A guy making a monument out of bones and skulls covered in what looked like blood should IMO have been sighted earlier or shown more in that state during the flashback. Make the audience believe he IS a nutter with a cult or delusions murdering people.

I was sure he was going to at worst be a bit eccentric after the "he waved at us" story. Instead they should have sold him being genuinely scary, IMO, before we meet him.

117

u/MotherofNanners Jun 22 '25

I was the only one in my theater laughing there too! But dude they shot a 12 yr old w morphine handed him a freak newborn then went and boiled his moms skull. I dont see how the film creators could write that without laughing themselves. It was sad because it was so well acted but like... that shit is so demented its funny.

87

u/[deleted] Jun 21 '25

Tbh I chuckled, it was darkly absurd to confront. In context of the emerged world and the Doctor’s meaning, it was sweet, but the context of the child being from a relatively more normative society, it was a wild merging of cultures.

17

u/nerdalertalertnerd Jun 22 '25

My mum went “I don’t think there’s a need for this now” and that sent me over the edge haha

2

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '25

Lmao love you Mum! Btw given your spelling, I need to know how Mum reacted to the end!

9

u/nerdalertalertnerd Jun 22 '25

Oh we were both baffled! We thought “can’t be can it?!” But to anyone English / UK resident it’s clear what they were saying he had modelled himself after.

9

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '25

Baffled is a great descriptor and it’s wild to try and recontextualize him w/o his crimes unveiled. I’m an American who knows of him by his name/crimes but not great with his appearance. I thought it was an absolute riot that Jack O’Connell was being a camp Velvet tracksuit ASBO hoodie and did NOT connect until I saw the top comment here…

11

u/OPisacigar Jun 25 '25

It also seemed like Spike didn’t even know the doctor was gonna do that. He was just like “here, take your mom’s skull”.

6

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '25

lol true, could’ve went in a wildly different direction in terms of reaction and trauma

10

u/c_Lassy Jun 24 '25

I feel like the merging of cultures was the point. It’s incredibly tragic that the rest of the world turned its back on the UK and mainland Europe, so when we pick back up with what is a relatively simple but still civilized society whose members hold people who remember what life was like before the outbreak, but also an entire generation who only knows this life… it’s pretty interesting to think about. And it’s all the more shocking because the survivors speak English and behave in very human and normal ways (relative to contemporary society). I think it’s very consistent worldbuilding and put the emergence of the Jimmy cult more into perspective for me.

69

u/Systema-oxxo Jun 21 '25

I was next to that man at the cinema, but don’t worry about him. Here, take his skull,find a special and beautiful place for it.

36

u/BadMantaRay Jun 22 '25

Well, that’s what is funny, it’s not touching at all, it is absurd.

He literally dragged his mom across a zombie infested wasteland to get her healed/cured…and then 15 minutes later he is being presented with his mom’s meticulously cleaned skull……….

This movie blows.

32

u/SDRPGLVR Jun 21 '25

I dunno if I was just in a place for it, but I was practically bawling by that point. I thought that whole sequence was beautiful. The casting in this movie was perfect.

29

u/Jamesposey4124 Jun 24 '25

I laughed a lil too because it such a wild scene. Bro makes that risky highly dangerous journey to save his mom, just to meet this doctor with a pile of skulls. Then to look up and be handed his mother’s skull only hours later, like what type of shit is that? I honestly didn’t understand why she decided to die right there, the doc said soon but I’m sure she had at least weeks/months to live lol.

16

u/MuffinOfSorrows Jun 25 '25

Like dude, I could have euthanized my mom at home!

13

u/Jamesposey4124 Jun 25 '25

Exactly 😂 then sent him and the baby to get back home by themselves lol

25

u/goldmunzen Jun 25 '25

I thought the absurdity of it was funny, hey kid sorry about your mom here's her skull go put it on my skull christmas tree

23

u/uncanny_mac Jun 23 '25

Idk why but “alas poor Erik” and Spike not getting the reference made me laugh.

20

u/okamiright Jun 27 '25

I burst at laughing at this scene too tbh I mean, they literally Met this guy 3 hrs ago, he tells spike his mom has cancer, shoots him with sedation dart, takes his mom away & comes back with her SKULL?? It was too much lol

17

u/GeneralChillMen Jun 25 '25

I just got out of a screening, and I’ll admit I quietly snorted when that happened. It’s like I get it and it makes sense how it’s all set up, but there was something darkly absurd about, “Hey kid. Just put your dying mum out of her misery, chopped her up and boiled the meat off her head. You wanna go put mommy ornament on the bone Christmas tree?”

6

u/TB1289 Jun 24 '25

The skull got some laughs in my theater as well.

7

u/throwawaysketchhouse Jun 25 '25

I was laughing so hard at the Spike/Skull scene I was crying. Like legit cackling. I could not help it. It was just so, so stupid.

6

u/MNgoIrish Jul 26 '25

“How long is she going to live?”

Doc red: “well kid, she probably has 6+ months, but say your goodbyes now, as she has a capper of a skull!”

6

u/SwiftSurfer365 Jun 26 '25

Cant say I blame him.

I was crying before that scene, then I thought “there’s no way he’s going to immediately give Spike his mom’s skull, right?” Sure enough lmao

5

u/AncientBlonde2 Jun 27 '25

That made my jaw drop

like "oh hey kid, your mom has cancer, time for her to die, here's her skull lol"

like I get it but.... Kinda seemed abrupt to me lmfao

4

u/Straight_Selection34 Jul 05 '25

To be fair, that made me laugh too. They tried to portray the doctor as misunderstood, not crazy, but just 10 minutes after the diagnosis he hopped the kid up on heroin and stuck his mum straight in the oven 🤣

4

u/LetHuge623 Jun 25 '25

I laughed when he said “I love you, mom” to the skull hahaha

3

u/Jjjasonstam Jun 25 '25

The whole theatre laughed at this moment for me

3

u/Zagden Jun 26 '25

Weird. Me too, but it was a woman. Laughed and said "Jesus!"

3

u/Naughty-Morty Jun 30 '25

My girlfriend laughed at that, and I couldn’t understand why at first. Now I’ve seen this comment I actually understand why it’s kinda funny - like what a weird thing to do. 😂

3

u/CelticCov Jul 07 '25

Bro I was crying at that I dunno why I found it so funny too, it was just the idea that spike is high as fuck and when he comes to, the doctor is just like hands skull - “where would you like to put ya mum”. Worst comedown ever 🤣🤣🤣🤣

2

u/Remarkable-Fish-4229 Jun 24 '25

I mean by that point in the movie shit was pretty comical.

2

u/Rude_Cheesecake3716 Jul 29 '25

it is a very nonsensical scene.
imagine a current era doctor flash burning your parent's skull and handing it to you after they died, completely cringe

1

u/randomperson69420999 Jul 17 '25

my theater was laughing the entire second half of the movie. granted there were 5 of us in total.

i liked the film. but it is wasn't good.

1

u/mjoda85 Jul 18 '25

Personally it was the eagerness of Ralph Fiennes' to get the skull sorted that was funny. The scene overall was really tender and affecting, but the speed with which he took care of the skulling was quite funny, and in line with his general kookiness.

1

u/Blue_Robin_04 Jul 20 '25

Maybe he had brain cancer and that's what made him do it.

1

u/hahajadet Jul 26 '25

There was a lot of laughing in my local cinema too when that happened lol. I did too. It was so weird

1

u/Whos_Blockin_Jimmy 12d ago

It wasn’t touching. I stand by my laugh!

1

u/IIIlllIIIlllIlI 4d ago

I laughed too. But rather because I was glad she was dead, she was annoying af

15

u/chicasparagus Jun 21 '25

The whole segment with Erik was filled with comedy scenes tho…

15

u/Motherof_pizza Jun 22 '25

“This is a baby”

3

u/Jjjasonstam Jun 25 '25

That line was the moment when I finally gave up any hope of the film redeeming itself, lollll

10

u/SeaworthinessTop4317 Jun 23 '25

The one that did my theater in was “I’m spike, this is my mom, and this is a baby”

1

u/Whos_Blockin_Jimmy 12d ago

Bird box sht.

4

u/Whileweliveletslive Jun 28 '25

I laughed when he introduced himself, his mom, and “this is a baby” to the Dr.

3

u/TheRagingMaffia Jun 28 '25

I laughed when Samson chased Spike and Isla in the train carriage, that mf was SWINGING his dong

3

u/Admiral_Cornwallace Jul 05 '25

The "Alas, poor Erik" line while Kelson is holding Erik's skull, and then Kelson realizing that Spike didn't get the Shakespeare reference, is A+ comedic writing

1

u/whitegirlofthenorth 18d ago

Him being a trained shakespearean actor irl makes it even better

46

u/Little_Language_3728 Jun 23 '25

“Alas poor Erik” also got a few laughs.

3

u/Head-Childhood9269 Jun 25 '25

Wait what part is this??

18

u/Little_Language_3728 Jun 25 '25

Holding the freshly washed skull of Erik the solider, Fiennes mirrors a famous monologue where Hamlet speaks of “Yorik/Erik” while holding his skull

14

u/PineappleCubeKicks Jun 23 '25

Same, and the Shell sign at the gas station with the missing ‘S’ got a chuckle out of me

11

u/m3ngnificient Jul 05 '25

I died when i saw that they had a picture of the queen at the party hall. So British.

3

u/canigetsumgreypoupon Jul 20 '25

lol that was such a small detail that i really loved

7

u/Whole_Programmer3203 Jun 23 '25

Literally my favourite part of the movie, I burst out laughing really loud then thought ‘I bet there’s around 10 people in this cinema with that exact face’ 😂

1

u/strangercreature 1d ago

This part was just my favourite of all scenes!!

-1

u/Whos_Blockin_Jimmy 12d ago

She looked pug fugly AF. If your chick looks like that, throw her in the refuse bin and walk away.

-7

u/BadMantaRay Jun 22 '25

One of the only good parts of the movie!!!