28 Years Later 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

28 Years Later 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

"Memento amorous. Remember you must love."

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown September 24, 2025

Filmmaker Danny Boyle stunned moviegoers in 2002 with one of the leanest, meanest, most pulse-pounding reinventions of the zombie subgenre in decades: 28 Days Later, a scrappy little indie-look-alike that used lo-fi cameras, a shockingly deserted London cityscape and, of course, Cillian Murphy and hundreds of high-speed infected to put the fear of God back in the hearts of horror fans. And now, some twenty-three years later, Boyle returns to the zombie fold. Just don't call his infected humans "zombies" or you'll get an earful. Not only does he return to the subgenre, he nudges it along, introducing new tribes of survivors fending off the inevitable in a globally quarantined UK, new variants of the infected that are more horrifying than ever before, and a fantastic little tale of a family traversing the wilds to save one of their own. Add to that a brilliant young newcomer named Alfie Williams -- while ignoring a few oddball decisions by the bold but ever eclectic Boyle and his screenwriter, the always exciting but occasionally over-ambitious Alex Garland -- and you have a new phase of the franchise that not only works wonderfully as an opening chapter to a planned trilogy but also shoves the coming sequels (two!) to the top of horror's most anticipated upcoming releases.

Twenty-eight years after the events of Boyle's 28 Days Later, what remains of the United Kingdom is under a tight lockdown from the rest of the world to contain the deadly rage virus, which would overrun the globe were it to cross the ocean. It's here that we meet a young, coming-of-age archer named Spike (Alfie Williams) who lives on the isolated holy island of Lindisfarne with his alcoholic father, Jamie (Aaron Taylor- Johnson), and his debilitated, terminally ill mother, Isla (a riveting Jodie Comer). The island is protected from invading infected by a narrow, capably defended land bridge; a causeway that disappears for most points of the day when the tides rise. But after returning from a dangerous, ceremonial trip to the mainland, Spike becomes disenchanted with his father, whom he discovers is having an affair with a local schoolteacher. He decides to take his mother and return to Britain proper after learning about the existence of a mysterious doctor, Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), who's survived for years far beyond the boundaries of his community. Hoping to find a cure for his ailing mother, Spike sets out, facing the perils of the wilderness and the infected, among them new creatures like the vicious "Alpha" (Chi Lewis-Parry), a stronger, smarter, fiercer beast of a man driven to the ends of depravity by the rage virus.

"He's not a doctor, Spike. Maybe he once was, years ago. But he's long since gone insane... Before you were born, we used to forage. But it got harder, so you'd have to travel farther, and one day I took a group of us close to Dr. Kelson's. Five hundred yards out, we started to smell death. Now understand we were well used to that smell, back then the dead were everywhere. But this was totally different. The stench was like a wall. You could touch it. And we got to the brow of this hill and we look down. I've never seen anything like it. Corpses. Hundreds. Just arranged in lines. Men. Women. Children. And in the middle was this fire. Stood by was Kelson. For some unfathomable purpose he'd dragged all the bodies there. And a few seconds later he turned around and looked right at us. And he waved! Casually like, 'Hey! Want to come down lads?' We turned and ran. In fifteen years, none of us have been back. Like I said: insane."

It's hard to miss the influence of Apocalypse Now on 28 Years Later -- with Dr. Kelson standing in for Marlon Brando's Colonel Kurtz -- though thankfully most similarities are merely structural. Everything else is pure, delicious Boyle and Garland-driven subversion of genre and theme. The not-a-zombie action/drama has its own story to tell, one about growing up, learning to tame fear, and the manners in which each of us deal with death, beginning with the mortality and limitations of the adults in our young lives and extending into our encounters with society at large. Fortunately, the visuals along the way are intense and inventive enough to stick and, more importantly, matter. Spike is a surprisingly compelling protagonist, even at just twelve years old, and gives the otherwise tonally jarring film its most solid anchor point. Williams delivers a strong, notably mature, yet always convincing performance too, easily emerging as the star of the picture. The adults fill lesser roles: Johnson disappears after the first act (terrific as he is), Comer's character is only utilized in brief moments of lucidity (which is in no way a jab at her fine work), and a brilliant Fiennes is saved until an unforgettable (love it or hate it) final episode. None of that is to say the adults don't matter -- each serves a crucial function to both the plot and the arc of our budding young hero -- but this is Spike's film, Spike's clash with the horrors of an evolving infected world, Spike's journey to travel.

So why has 28 Years Later struck such a divisive nerve with audiences and critics alike? Several decisions really, most of which you'll either loathe or you'll take at face value, shrugging your shoulders with a wild grin plastered on your face and a "f*** it, I'm 100% along for the ride" on your lips. Tonally, the film lurches and lunges as aggressively as the infected. Some of the innovative camera techniques introduced by Boyle and cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle can be a bit distracting (including a rig with dozens of iPhone cameras providing an ultra-HD bullet-time effect). The ending (featuring a batshit appearance from Sinners' Jack O'Connell) is a hilarious wtf breath of fresh air that practically leaps into view from an entirely different movie (one helmed by Edgar Wright, I'd wager). Spike's mother just so happens to always come out of her mental haze and to her senses when needed. And the new breeds of infected are... interesting, to say the least. The alphas and their flocks are unabashedly, grotesquely naked (so... many... dicks). A preggers, soon-to-be zom-mom ups the ante and serves up unexpected stakes. And other disgusting abominations threaten to defy credulity. Moreover, Kelson's "bone temple," a location the next film is already named after, is also quite the hot take on Fiennes' savior/devil mystery of a man. Is he a priest at the end of the world? A monk? A crazed lunatic? A cannibal? Voldemort? None of the above? Strap in, 28 Years Later is nothing if not unpredictable.

28 Years Later 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

My god, does 28 Years Later pack a punch in dazzling 4K Ultra HD. While there's an argument to be made that the high level of clarity and the stunning vibrance of the image only draws more attention to brief moments that utilize new, hit-or-miss shooting techniques and consumer-level cameras, the vast majority of the film is shot much more traditionally, albeit via a remarkably wide aspect ratio of 2.76:1, without sacrificing visual intensity or the colorful aesthetic. Later's palette is awash with vivid hues and bold primaries. Lush green foliage, brilliant blue waters, striking red blood (particularly in the case of the gore slathered on Fiennes), and other flashes of life dominate the screen and, in the case of the 4K release, make it clear that the featured Dolby Vision upgrade is well worth the price of admission. I mean, just look at those forests. Those locations. Those ruins. Those flower-strewn fields. Gorgeous. Black levels are deep and inky as well, and contrast leveling is beautiful, even when night descends and the picture grows increasingly (and purposefully) impenetrable. And detail? Detail is outstanding, with razor sharp edge definition, exquisitely refined textures and excellent shadow delineation. There are moments of reduced clarity in darker shots, but each one is a product of the cinematography rather than anything more nefarious. Likewise, the aforementioned iPhone-rig shots stand out but only because the image and shooting style shifts somewhat dramatically, not because of anything that might trace back to the encode. Blocking, banding and errant noise are also nowhere to be found, making 28 Years Later one of the most visually affecting titles released by Sony this year.

28 Years Later 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

In case you've ever wondered what it might sound like if zombies were to crash through your windows and invade your home, along comes 28 Years Later and its bombastic, immersive Dolby Atmos track to make the answer painfully clear: it would be terrifying. Infected screech and scream from every direction. Hurried (sometimes thunderous) footfalls come fast and fierce. Snarls and the snapping of jaws have real bite. Even blood spatter and spittle has a place, subtle as it is, in the soundscape. Everything else is just as it should be. Snapping branches on a forest floor. Rustling leaves and gentle winds. Boiling water cleaning a fresh skull. The surrounds are used to perfection while the rear speakers are especially effective, creating scenes that drop the listener in the middle of the action (or the horror, depending on the sequence). LFE output is strong and aggressive too, lending top tier weight and presence to low-end elements. (Just listen to, well, every sound that accompanies an Alpha.) Moreover, dialogue remains clean, clear and intelligible at all times, even when hushed or whispered. Prioritization is exacting, with every element, directional flourish and nuance falling into place nicely. Zero complaints here.

28 Years Later 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Days to Years (HD, 7 minutes) - All of 28 Years Later's supplemental content can be found on the combo pack's Blu-ray disc, beginning with "Days to Years," a quick glimpse behind the scenes that unravels the challenges of creating a believable world in which the infected have continued to dominate the bulk of the UK for nearly three decades. Also covered is the evolution of the creatures, from introducing new variants on the classic runners to fashioning distinct uninfected tribes that exist within the world of the film.

• Capturing the Chaos (HD, 5 minutes) - The disc's final featurette, led by Boyle, is a more in-depth look at the filming, cameras and style of 28 Years Later, but that doesn't make "Capturing the Chaos" any less worthwhile. The only downside is that, like all of the featurettes included with the release, it's far, far too short, and doesn't offer nearly as much as a more robust documentary or an audio commentary might have served up.

• The Survivors (HD, 6 minutes) - An EPK-esque introduction to our leads, including Alfie Williams' Spike, Jodie Comer's Isla, Aaron Taylor-Johnson's Jamie and Ralph Fiennes enigmatic Colonel Kurtz subversion, Dr. Kelson.

• Becoming the Infected (HD, 6 minutes) - In what doesn't look like a comfortable or pleasant routine, stunt actors gear up as 28 Years Later's infected (don't call 'em zombies), and have a blast bringing their running, lumbering characters to life.

• Behind the Cameras (HD, 7 minutes) - A tour of pre-production hosted by Danny Boyle, who discusses the script to storyboard to screen process that brought the film to life, the use of unique cameras, rigs and shooting styles, the film's various locations and environments, the special iPhone pseudo-bullet-time device used for key shots, and the sequel's subtle nods to the original 28 Days Later.

• Previews (HD) - Includes the original trailer for 28 Days Later among other newer films.

28 Years Later 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sony grants one of its biggest releases of the year a first-rate 4K UltraHD Blu-ray release. Sure, it could use more extras. A production documentary? A commentary from Boyle and Garland, maybe? But there's just too much on tap to gripe too badly. The film itself is one helluva emotionally affecting roller coaster, the video presentation is stunning (my jaw literally dropped several times) and the Dolby Atmos audio track is a blast. The movie continues to be divisive, no doubt. But I suspect the longer 28 Years Later roams the cineverse, the more appreciation it will garner. Give it a shot. Not fully on board. Try a second watch and see what happens.