Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later started a franchise that has finally become a trilogy in 2025 with the much-anticipated release of 28 Years Later, which is a sequel to 28 Weeks Later. A virus that causes people to feel uncontrollable homicidal rage breaks out in 28 Days Later, causing the equivalent of a zombie apocalypse. Since creator Alex Garland and director Danny Boyle returned for 28 Years Later, it is being thought of as a follow-up to the first film, but the actual sequel is 28 Weeks Later, which came out in 2007.

Despite being a mostly independent production, 28 Weeks Later is connected to the first movie, and is a part of the official canon as confirmed by 28 Years Later creator Alex Garland, despite the new movie not starting where the previous film left things. The original sequel picks up exactly where 28 Days Later ends, and continues the tale with a fascinating new set of characters and a compelling new storyline. Despite 28 Weeks Later streaming on Hulu in 2025, it continues to be criminally underrated and considered much worse than the first film than it is.

28 Weeks Later Has The Perfect Opening Scene

It Sets The Tone For The Rest Of The Film

28 Weeks Later has one of the best opening scenes in cinema history. It is a deliberately paced introduction to the world in the wake of the Rage Virus outbreak. A few survivors are living in a house that they have sealed off from the outside in every way imaginable, but they let in a child after they hear him screaming for help while furiously knocking on their door. The way the tension ramps up within seconds from then, with the infected people breaching the house’s perimeter, will catch viewers unawares every time they watch the film.

The rapidly cut, untethered close-up sH๏τs of the infected people as they swarm into the rooms make viewers anxious and put them in the shoes of the humans trying to escape with their lives. The frenetic editing is perfectly complemented by the iconic background score, which also builds in intensity over time. A sense of despair hangs over every frame, even when the camera follows Robert Carlyle’s Don running through the bright green field.

The segment outside the house, where Don runs to a boat and tries to escape with his friend who is tending to it, is just as chaotic and scary. The shocking amount of gore in this scene makes 28 Weeks Later the perfect successor to 28 Days Later, which still serves as inspiration for modern horror movies that are character-driven and don’t just rely on cheap tricks and jump scares to thrill the audience.

Don leaves behind the residents of the house and runs away to the boat, narrowly evading the infected on his way. Among the people he leaves behind is his wife, who calls out to him desperately, but to no avail. Once on the boat, he hurries his friend to leave the dock, but he only survives as a swarm of infected comes and drags his friend away, attempting to do the same to him. The sense of danger in the scene, the relentless movement, and the apathy shown by Don to live tell us what to expect from the rest of the movie.

28 Weeks Later Is Conventional, But Still Well-Made

It Follows The Usual “Zombie” Movie Arc

One of the best things about 28 Days Later is that it’s a great “zombie” movie, but also subverts genre conventions by focusing on a secondary level of fear in its second half. While the infected swarm the country, the primary antagonists become the soldiers who give the protagonists a safe haven. Their lust, which drives them to attempt to Sєxually ᴀssault both Selena and the young girl Hannah, is the real infection that Jim and Selena have to fight off during the final act. 28 Days Later explores aspects of humanity that typical “zombie” films avoid.

By comparison, 28 Weeks Later is a more conventional “zombie” movie, as it focuses almost solely on the central characters’ survival efforts. Don’s kids, Tammy (Imogen Poots), and Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton), breach the safe perimeter established in the UK after 28 weeks from day zero of the outbreak, but incidentally find their mother, who seems to be infected but doesn’t show symptoms. She is a carrier nonetheless, and when Don kisses her, he gets infected, thus causing a second outbreak.

What follows is a relentless barrage of violence, gore, jump scares, and horrifying infected attacks sH๏τ in handheld close-up, and edited rapidly to add to the sense of despair and chaos. 28 Weeks Later doesn’t let up for a second, and while it doesn’t have the same subversive approach as 28 Days Later, it manages to perfect the genre conventions it follows. The difficulty of the journey through the heart of London as the characters try to find a way out of the UK is the focus of the film, and it makes viewers feel as scared as the characters.

While it doesn’t rank as the best movie in the 28 Days Later trilogy, 28 Weeks Later is still a fantastic “zombie” apocalypse film, which sets a high standard for how to create a sense of impending doom in cinematic form. The claustrophobic lack of breathing space during the film’s non-stop sequences of zombies attacking people on the streets and in the fields, and also in the climax, where the night-vision scope of a gun is the only source of visibility, should earn 28 Weeks Later a better reputation than it has.

28 Weeks Later Has Compelling Characters

The Characters Are Complicated

28 Days Later is known for its character-driven approach to “zombie” filmmaking, and living up to the standard it sets is a tough ask. However, while 28 Weeks Later is a narrative-driven film, it does a satisfying job of giving us characters to root for and have a complicated relationship with. Jeremy Renner’s Sergeant Doyle is a sympathetic US Army official who disobeys orders to openly fire on civilians. Rose Byrne’s Scarlet is a doctor who wants to get Don’s children to safety. Don has turned into an infected person and is terrorizing people.

The most complicated characters are Don and his children. If Tammy and Andy had never breached the perimeter, their mother, Alice (Catherine McCormack), would have never been discovered, and a second outbreak wouldn’t have occurred. However, Alice’s unique condition is what makes a vaccine seem possible, and if Don hadn’t abandoned her, she would have been there with him, and the children wouldn’t have breached the perimeter. But if Don had tried rescuing her that day, maybe he wouldn’t have lived.

The moral conundrums presented by the characters make 28 Weeks Later a great “zombie” movie, and they’re perfectly explored through the character of Sergeant Doyle, who doesn’t just disobey direct orders to shoot civilians, but also argues with his friend Flynn (Harold Perrineau), who is manning a military helicopter. He is an aspirational character who puts his life on the line to save people, and while he doesn’t experience character development like Jim from 28 Days Later, he is compelling, a trait buoyed by Jeremy Renner’s performance.

28 Weeks Later Continues The Original Movie’s Themes & Messages

It Continues The Critique Of The Military

28 Days Later‘s most compelling aspect is its exploration of the depravity of the military in the dire circumstances created by the virus outbreak. The commander of the group of soldiers in the camp in 28 Days Later sends out a false message of hope, promising a solution to the virus that doesn’t exist, so that people, including women, will respond to the call, and his soldiers will get to satisfy their carnal urges. He doesn’t mince words when he tells Jim that he can leave, but Selena and Hannah cannot, and the soldiers will have their way with them.

However, despite not being a trained person, using his wits, and his sheer willpower, Jim is able to outsmart the soldiers and help Selena and Hannah escape. While 28 Days Later criticizes the actions of these specific British soldiers, albeit suggesting this is common for members of the British Army, 28 Weeks Later focuses on the US Army. While the original plan for 28 Weeks Later involved setting the sequel at the same time as the first movie, since it follows weeks later, the US Army is now in the UK, trying to control the spread of the rage virus.

The Army has no interest in saving Alice despite Scarlet explaining to the General, played by Idris Elba, that her blood might help them create a vaccine. However, despite being studied, Alice isn’t guarded well, and Don simply walks into the room where she is being held, thus causing the outbreak. Despite just being one man, Don isn’t stopped by the military in the complex, and he successfully takes the virus outside with him. The military’s negligent and lackluster atтιтude leads to the rage virus spreading through London again.

Moreover, they have no real containment plan, and the idea is to just indiscriminately shoot everyone so they can kill the infected, not caring if they accidentally kill people who haven’t been infected yet. 28 Weeks Later is a scathing indictment of the US Army’s atтιтude towards war crimes, which doesn’t consider collateral damage when making plans. This may not be one of the movie trilogies where the second film is the best, but 28 Weeks Later deserves more love for continuing the first film’s themes of military incompetence and apathy, and bravery in the face of organized cruelty.

Tammy and Andy survive mainly because Scarlet and Doyle are willing to risk their careers and their lives for it. Scarlet is motivated by the hope of a virus, but she puts herself in danger to protect the children. Doyle literally sacrifices himself to ensure the three of them can escape from the infected. Tammy shoots Don after tricking him by mimicking her mother’s voice. They all show extraordinary courage and convey the message that solidarity, empathy, and bravery are powerful weapons against corrupt people in power and horrible means of death in such situations.

28 Weeks Later Is Appropriately Less Funny Than 28 Days Later

It Uses A More Cynical Approach To The Story

Being a British production informs 28 Days Later‘s writing, because just like the most iconic humorous treatment of the zombie genre, Shaun of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, which is one of the most hilarious horror comedy movies, it has a sense of humor. The humor is obviously drier than in Shaun of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, but from jokes about the UK’s weather, to humor about the lack of cheeseburgers in their diet, and a punchline about the place being hellish, 28 Days Later has a distinctly British sense of humor that works perfectly for its optimistic, subversive, and dramatic approach to the genre.

28 Weeks Later is a more international production, which focuses on the hopelessness of a second outbreak and the helplessness of the few remaining survivors, while critiquing the US military. It is a cynical story that emphasizes how impossible or miraculous it is to survive the kind of circumstances that the characters face in the movie. So, not only is there less space for humor, but its horror/thriller approach to telling the story would also be undercut by jokes, which might even feel ill-intentioned or poorly timed.

28 Weeks Later Has The Ideal Setup For a Sequel

It Ends On A Cliffhanger

The 28 Weeks Later‘s ending retcon for 28 Years Later dampens the impact of the original sequel’s ending, but one can’t deny that it’s still a fascinating conclusion to the story. Despite everyone else dying, Andy and Tammy manage to survive, with Andy not showing any symptoms even after Don attacks him. The possible immunity shown by Andy leaves viewers hopeful for the development of a vaccine in the next movie.

However, the real ending of 28 Weeks Later immediately changes expectations, as we see a montage of rage-infected people leaving a subway in Paris, suggesting that not only was a vaccine not developed, but the infection also spread elsewhere, possibly through Andy, who was flown to Paris with his sister by Flynn. It is the final nail in the coffin for any hope viewers may have felt while watching the movie, and also sets up a more global sequel, which unfortunately never came to be.