FILM REVIEW: 28 YEARS LATER – THE BONE TEMPLE (18) ESP RATING: 4.5/5

Brutally unflinching – this is made for the fans.

When I reviewed 28 Years Later last year, I gave it a respectable score… but it came with a strange sense of guilt. I felt like a defensive parent, desperately trying to justify a naughty child’s bad behaviour. I love this franchise, and while I praised the cinematography and the sheer guts it took to do something different, I knew something wasn’t quite right. Beneath all that admiration was a simple truth: audiences deserved better.

Fortunately, this follow-up is exactly what we deserved.

The Bone Temple wastes no time in course-correcting. Set deep within a quarantined Britain where the infected have continued to evolve, the film centres on a disturbing new power structure that has emerged among the survivors – and something far worse than the virus itself.

A fanatical cult – known as ‘The Jimmys’ – has built a grotesque sanctuary from the remains of the dead, believing the infection to be a form of divine judgement. What unfolds is the most relentlessly grim chapter this series has delivered so far.

Where the previous instalment felt like a film made to impress critics, The Bone Temple feels unapologetically designed for long-time fans. It’s harsher, uglier, and far more punishing. The film repeatedly dips into prolonged horror-torture territory, often daring the audience to look away. If you’re okay with that – and many genre fans will be – you should book a screening as soon as possible.

The leader of the group, Jack O’Connell’s (Sinners) Jimmy ‘Sir Lord’ Crystal, is one of the most unsettling villains we’ve seen in years – completely unpredictable and utterly evil to the core.

‘The Jimmys’ are simply terrifying, and their presence elevates the film into something genuinely harrowing. This is intense cinema at its absolute best.

The film wisely gives the audience ‘room to breathe’ during the quieter scenes involving Ralph Fiennes, who plays a reclusive doctor obsessed with the Alpha infected. Certain that there may still be something ‘human’ buried beneath the rage, he attempts to form a bond with the creature. These moments are slower and more contemplative than the chaos surrounding the main group, but they never become dull. It’s a genuinely fascinating concept, and Fiennes delivers one of his most magnetic performances to date – calm, commanding, and quietly heartbreaking.

Spike (Alfie Williams) also returns, but thankfully the tiresome father-son arc that dragged down last year’s film is nowhere to be seen. Here there’s more of what people liked, and far less of what people hated.

What’s most striking is how different this film feels, despite being shot back-to-back with its predecessor. The contrast is chalk and cheese. There may be different directors involved – with Nia DaCosta (Candyman) helming this film – but never did I think I’d prefer the entry not associated with Danny Boyle.

When I walked out of 28 Years Later last year, I was genuinely ‘on the fence’ about continuing with the franchise. But after this I’m fully back on board.

It may not be receiving the box-office love it deserves – due to the indifference surrounding the previous iteration – but this is spine tingling and far superior.

ESP Rating: 4.5/5

Mike Clarke

Showcase Cinema De Lux Peterborough & Odeon Luxe Peterborough, Out Now

Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Jack O’Connell, Alfie Williams, Erin Kellyman, Emma Laird & Chi Lewis-Parry

Running Time: 1 Hr 49 Mins

Director: Nia Dacosta

Film Review Venue: Showcase Cinema De Lux Peterborough

For all the latest film information & showtimes at Peterborough’s Showcase Cinema De Lux & Odeon Luxe Cinemas go to www.showcasecinemas.co.uk and www.odeon.co.uk