Alex Garland breaks down how The Last of Us has successfully picked up from 28 Days Later and built upon it to tell a new emotional tale for audiences. The HBO series brought Naughty Dog’s hit video game franchise to the big screen, exploring two survivors’ trek across a devastated America after a horrific viral outbreak to find a cure. Penned by Garland and released in 2002, 28 Days Later follows Cillian Murphy’s Jim navigating the ruins of a devastated London following an outbreak of the 28 Days Later franchise’s virus that renders its victims as rage-filled monsters.

As Garland sat down with The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann for PlayStation‘s latest Creator to Creator podcast (via GamesRadar+), the writer had surprising praise for the franchise. In Garland’s eyes, The Last of Us‘ writing surpᴀsses 28 Days Later, as while he did not intend to minimize the movie’s impact, the video game and its subsequent TV adaptation offered a richer, more “sophisticated” telling of its core themes. Check out Garland’s explanation below:

Let me say this: The Last of Us is better than 28 Days [Later]. The Last of Us is better than 28 Days, or at least the writing is. I’m not going to talk about directing, that would be a silly thing. So not that. I know what 28 Days is, I know what I did. I know what that process was. The thing about The Last of Us, I was like, “Oh, this is so much more sophisticated and moving.” It was moving. I’m not dissing 28 Days, I’m very proud of it. It’s a nice part of my life. But seriously, The Last of US is on another level – so yeah, of course I was influenced by it.

What Garland’s Response Means For The Last of Us

The Two Productions Have Differing Views On Humanity’s Perseverance

The Last of Us and 28 Days Later do share several core elements of their respective narratives. Not only is each tale set in the wake of a viral outbreak that turns humanity into physical monsters, but it questions what humanity is in the wake of the end times. For 28 Days Later, Major Henry West (Christopher Eccleston) and the soldiers under his command represent the collapse of civilization and downgrade of humanity into a violent, ruthless culture, while the Seraphites, raiders, FEDRA, and David’s (Scott Shepherd) group represent this in The Last of Us.

28 Days Later handles the complexity of its protagonist differently. Jim has a ᴅᴇᴀᴅlier, more brutal approach when taking on West’s men to rescue his companions in 28 Days Later, but he is otherwise portrayed as the ideal survivor in the scenario, finding new meaning and optimism as the world collapses. Meanwhile, Joel (Pedro Pascal) is pragmatic and broken, beginning as someone doing anything he could to survive and staying that way, even potentially condemning humanity in The Last of Us season finale to save Ellie (Bella Ramsey). As such, The Last of Us is a more morally gray tale.

Our Thoughts On The Last Of Us Vs. 28 Days Later

Each Tale Is Essential Viewing

While Garland may praise The Last of Us‘ story as outshining 28 Days Later, each work holds a pivotal place in pop culture. Garland and Danny Boyle’s movie revitalized zombies for a new era after the subgenre became stale through terrifying new angles and a renewed interest in reclaiming humanity in the darkest times. The Last of Us would do the same over a decade later as it took a new angle on the infection, while asking its audience whether what we see as humanity can withstand the worst-case scenario. As such, each story is irreplaceable and an essential tale worth seeing.

Source: Creator to Creator (via GamesRadar+)