28 Years Later: The Bone Temple 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Bones, thugs, and disharmony.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III April 22, 2026

Because 28 Decades Later would've been too big a leap (although I'd probably watch it), writer Alex Garland's The Bone Temple serves as a direct sequel to last year's 28 Years Later, where he reunited with director Danny Boyle to hopefully recapture the magic of the original 2003 film. Truth be told, I wasn't fully won over by Years: it dreamed up an absorbing portrait of post-apocalyptic life near the Scottish Highlands by pairing bloody, visceral thrills with dramatic tension... but it also employed far too many showy camera tricks, struggled with momentum during the second half, and finally ended with the bizarre introduction of a roving, tracksuit-clad gang with bleached hair. I therefore had no choice but to approach The Bone Temple with morbid curiosity rather than real excitement but, with directing duties delegated to franchise newcomer Nia DaCosta (Candyman), at least a bold new direction was implied.

WARNING: Several first-half spoilers are below.

And it is a bold new direction, but one that essentially moves in a straight line. The Bone Temple picks right up with young Spike (Alfie Williams) as he's initiated into the gang, a devil-worshipping cult led by "Sir Lord" Jimmy Crystal (Jack O'Connell, Sinners), whose followers are all named after a man whose appearance is clearly based on the late, not-so-great English DJ Jimmy Savile. Collectively calling themselves "The Fingers", they sow chaos and often engage in one-on-one death matches with outsiders just for sport. Some of these outsiders also serve as The Bone Temple's first totally new characters and include Tom (Louis Ashbourne Serkis) and his pregnant partner Cathy (Mirren Mack), who live with several others in a farmhouse that's invaded by The Fingers; they butcher most of its occupants as sacrifices to "Old Nick", a mysterious being that Jimmy Crystal believes to be his father, Satan.

Their paths eventually intersect with none other than iodine-covered Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), first introduced in the third act of 28 Years Later, who maintains his stewardship of an ossuary known as "The Bone Temple" and uses the boiled remains of Rage Virus victims to build its walls. When he's not musing in his underground bunker or listening to Duran Duran and Radiohead, Kelson keeps watch over The Bone Temple's borders and, recently, has regular meetings with a gargantuan Alpha he calls "Samson" (Chi Lewis-Parry). Placating Samson with doses of morphine, now in short supply, Kelson's new goal is to coax out the humanity buried deep within the minds of infected Rage "survivors". Things seem to be going well with Kelson's research... and then Jimmy Crystal shows up, insisting the red-skinned Kelson is his demonic dad. He's not, but Jimmy demands he play along to cement his leadership over The Fingers.

(No more spoilers, I promise.)

Even more so than previous entries, The Bone Temple is not for the squeamish. It's unapologetically brutal, featuring buckets of blood and no shortage of full-frontal nudity as Rage victims charge towards potential victims with reckless abandon... and this includes plenty of Alpha tube steak, of course. But its themes remain girthy, with Bone Temple's balance of engaging solo drama and religious shenanigans creating a more methodical level of momentum that, unlike its predecessor, doesn't waver as much. It also ends with a more compelling cliffhanger... although its unnamed follow-up, which was the planned conclusion of a trilogy from the start, is potentially now in limbo since this second chapter underperformed at the box office. Will we ever get a third? Maybe not... but for now, we have two decidedly different films who, over time, may prove to complement each other quite a bit more than initially expected.

For now, though, I enjoyed The Bone Temple quite a bit more than its predecessor... and not just for its story, either. While I appreciated that 28 Years Later stuck with the franchise's urgent visuals (28 Days Later was famously mostly shot on SD digital video cameras and its standalone sequel was all hand-held) with most footage captured on an iPhone 15 Pro Max, Years' snug 2.76:1 aspect ratio and showy editing ultimately worked against it. While still spontaneous at critical moments, the Arri Alexa-shot Bone Temple takes more time with its approach... and this not only creates more subtle drama, but it contrasts nicely with those moments that go completely off the rails. Additionally, the music offers plenty of highlights, from those numerous pop cuts (if you can call "Everything In Its Right Place" a pop song) to the original score by classical cellist Hildur Guðnadóttir, who has composed for films since 2011 and teamed with director Nia DaCosta twice before but is perhaps best known for her contributions to Joker and its sequel.

Among other elements, The Bone Temple's visuals and music are served exceptionally well by Sony's separate home video releases; these include a Blu-ray edition and a 4K Steelbook (note: no standard UHD is currently available), both of which have proportionately solid A/V merits and several extras including a director's commentary. The latter release scores extra points since this is a native 4K production... but either way, it's a very good entry that will be enjoyed by fans and newcomers alike, who of course are all encouraged to (re)watch 28 Years Later beforehand.

NOTE: According to our forum's official thread, a number of viewers are encountering serious playback issues in that the initial "loading bar" freezes before the menu is reached. I did not encounter such a problem, so it's unknown whether or not this potential issue is related to specific copies of the 4K disc or tied to certain players.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

NOTE: These screenshots are sourced from the Blu-ray edition, available separately and reviewed here.

While the above note is placeholder text for all of my UHD reviews, it especially applies to The Bone Temple since the 4K and Blu-ray discs offer noticeably different visual representations of the film and, perhaps surprisingly, the UHD is not always a clear winner. Taken at face value, Sony's 2160p/HDR10/Dolby Vision transfer offers a very tight and often nuanced presentation with greater depth, better-controlled highlights, and obviously more fine detail than the Blu-ray, which looks brighter and (perhaps unavoidably) flatter with a push more towards yellow/green hues. Naturally, then, the 4K's on-screen appearance is noticeably cooler than these Blu-ray screenshots suggest, with a near-constant thin blue haze on darker potions of the HDR layer that further tamp down its reigned-in black levels; this also gives several sequences an unnaturally cold appearance that, in my opinion, doesn't always convincingly match the location and time of day... even with broader stylistic boundaries in mind. It's also much darker and substantially less readable in certain spots (which of course isn't always a complaint, of course, but I feel that a more comfortable middle ground could've been achieved), but the trade-off is a more precise use of color depth that the flatter Blu-ray lacks.

Compression is never a problem, as this 100GB disc is encoded well with no obvious artifacts or manipulation and runs at a high bit rate that often holds steady in the 60-70Mbps range. In the end, I feel that this is a good 4K presentation, even very good in spots, but it occasionally lacks the consistency of some of the format's best offerings.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

On the other hand, the default Dolby Atmos mix (which, as always, unfolds to TrueHD 7.1 if needed) outperforms the DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track, which is also included as an option here. This franchise rarely disappoints in the audio department and Bone Temple carries its own weight with a robust, dynamic, and occasionally very active soundstage at critical junctures, though admittedly much of it is dominated by quieter, dialogue-driven exchanges. Overhead activity is limited but present during its heightened (pun intended) action sequences such as the barn fire, Dr. Kelson's lively performance as The Lord of Darkness and, adjacently, the film's original score and soundtrack which sound extremely full and rich when needed. In short, it performs almost exactly as you'd expect given the subject matter, and Sony's inclusion of the 5.1 mix is appreciated too and contributes to this release's crowd-pleasing 5/5 rating.

Optional subtitles, including English (SDH), are included during the film and all key extras listed below.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in Steelbook packaging with an absolutely awesome cover that depicts a close-up of Dr. Kelson holding a skull emblazoned with the franchise's familiar "biohazard" symbol on its forehead. The back cover continues that motif with his titular temple repeating the symbol's visual design, whereas the interior splash image features a more low-key still of Kelson meeting with "Samson" inside the temple's walls. The 4K disc sits by itself on the right, and a Digital Copy code is tucked inside. This is a very striking design overall, even if "The Fingers" are nowhere to be found, and the disc is also home to a few worthwhile bonus features.

• Behind The Scenes Featurettes - A trio of short but enjoyable production pieces.

• The Doctor and the Devil (6:16) - Ralph Fiennes and Jack O'Connell discuss their characters and separate contributions to the story, with additional input by director Nia DaCosta.
• New Blood (6:07) - Nia DaCosta returns to speak about her lifelong love of the franchise (from the original 28 Days Later onward), being asked to sit in the director's chair, and what she brought to the table with the blessing of Alex Garland and Danny Boyle, who are also featured separately here.
• Beneath the Rage (5:19) - Ralph Fiennes and Chi Lewis-Parry discuss their characters' unique relationship, its important contrast to the film's less compassionate half, and Nia DaCosta again offers a few thoughts. As a bonus, we also get blurred-out nekkid screen tests for Samson.

• Audio Commentary - Director Nia DaCosta sits down for this engaging feature-length solo track, an totally relaxed and candid conversation that covers all of the expected bases including her first involvement with the film, location scouting and production design, cinematography, approaching the franchise as a fan but also an outsider, shout-outs to various cast and crew members, practical effects vs. CGI, the film's heavy themes and violence, music, editing, the climactic music "performance", a certain cameo appearance, and more.

• Infected Takes: Bloopers (2:44)

• Deleted Scene (0:52) - The Fingers have a chat after Dr. Kelson and Jimmy Crystal's first meeting.

• Previews (9:27) for 28 Years Later, Sisu: Road to Revenge, Nuremberg, and Kraven the Hunter.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Franchise newbie Nia DaCosta helms The Bone Temple, a direct sequel to 2025's 28 Years Later, and she may have made the second-best film in the series behind Danny Boyle's 2003 original (which I haven't seen in several years, so that opinion may actually change in the future). This is a compelling entry that's better-paced than its predecessor, and in my opinion the cinematography and music are both improved as well. Sony Pictures' separate UHD (Steelbook only) and Blu-ray editions offer solid but different A/V merits and a decent assortment of extras, with the former getting the clear edge with its Dolby Atmos audio and outstanding packaging, although it's currently priced as high as their usual output which might keep some fans away. Either way, both options come firmly Recommended.