This review was made possible by Popped attending an advanced screening of 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.
Just under a year after the release of Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later, the follow up races towards us like it too has been infected. While Boyle doesn’t return to the director’s chair, Candyman and The Marvels director Nia DaCosta fills in, handpicked by the man himself for 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.
The first entry into this post-apocalyptic legacy trilogy surprised a lot of folks, excellently paving a new path forward for the franchise and focusing on the way that we look at death and the effect that it’s imminence has on us and also our faith. The film left off with quite an abrupt and jarring cliffhanger that saw our protagonist, Spike, saved by a rowdy band of colorful, wig-wearing acrobats that look as if they’re straight out of a traveling roadshow. Picking up almost right where we left off, the film wastes no time revealing just how sinister these funky folks really are.
Are We Crystal?
While only briefly appearing in the final moments of the last film, Jack O’Connell returns as the one, and hopefully only, Jimmy Crystal. Many may not remember, Jimmy is actually the little boy from the opening moments of 28 Years Later, the son of the priest in the church overrun by the infected. In those years since, time has seemingly not been kind to him; in fact, it seems to have tortured and twisted him into a sadistic and overall demonic figure for these end times. The way these people have been changed by the end of the world is a big part of this new trilogy. Witnessing what nearly 3 decades has done to those remaining. Jimmy may be an example of the worst of them, succumbing to the chaos and embracing the ruthlessness of their new neighbors, believing himself a servant to the dark lord.
O’Connell is a one-man hell on earth in this role, going miles beyond what he did as Remmick in Sinners. Jimmy is the worst face you’d want to see in this world. O’Connell commands the screen and his presence is at times nauseating, especially when you see his charity in action. I’m not sure anyone else could have played the role as well as O’Connell has. A very out there and unflattering character to play and yet he does it gracefully, and
Jimmy and his fingers (a phrase used to refer to the other Jimmys) scour the island looking to give charity to those unfortunate enough to stumble across the blonde band. Of course, charity is not at all what it sounds like and can range from an array of gruesome and inhumane persecution ordered by Old Nick himself. The Jimmys seemingly complete a trifecta of sorts. Becoming the ones who take pleasure in death, trivialising it and treating it as a game, opposed to the viewpoints of Dr Kelson, who abhors everything about these people.
While the band of Jimmy’s are all quite repulsive and awful in their own special and unique way, one stands among the rest as the most honorable, and that would be Jimmy Ink, played by Erin Kellyman. Some may forget about her brief appearance towards the end of the first film, but she very quickly becomes an important part of this story, becoming Spike’s pseudo-protector in this film and helping him as he adjusts to becoming a Jimmy. Kellyman has been quite the underrated talent in the past few years, getting some great roles but never one that really helps her break into the mainstream and she’s quite deserving of it, further proven here.
Opposites Attract
When we land back in Northumbria, we see Spike initiated into the Jimmy gang. Spike remains a lead character in The Bone Temple, but certainly takes a back seat this time around. Instead, Jimmy Crystal and Dr. Kelson, played by Ralph Fiennes, really take the spotlight here. At its core, it’s these two very different outlooks on death, religion, and ways of life that come to a clash. The juxtaposition of these walks of life are one of the films strongest aspects, aside from performances.
On one hand, you have Dr Kelson, a man of science and irreligion, who cherishes death and knows that it is inevitable. He does not fear it, and he doesn’t run from it; in fact, he runs towards it. Much of Kelson’s screen time in this film is spent with Samson, the hulking alpha that’s claimed the woods surrounding the bone temple as his hunting grounds. Avoiding spoilers, the side plot with Kelson and Samson is fantastic. I don’t think it’s something anyone would really expect to happen, but it does. The bond that forms between the two in the previous film and in this one only strengthens, until reaching a powerful revelation that becomes one of the best aspects of the film. Kelson is the film’s best character, scratch that, the franchise’s best. Fiennes’ performance is nothing short of incredible, playing the role with such an overwhelming tenderness; he is truly the best of those who have survived this, maintaining his sanity, but more importantly, his humanity.
If it wasn’t clear enough in all the gushing, Fiennes is just the crown jewel of this new trilogy. Writer Alex Garland has written such a beautifully compassionate character that’s commitment to not only science but also honoring the natural order that has helped him maintain his sanity is remarkable. Fiennes’ performance is just so grounded as well; he’s clever and has a good sense of humor and remembers the parts of life that made it enjoyable.
A Place of Worship
The Bone Temple is obviously a major location in this film, as it was in the first. This time around, there is a much greater focus on it as it catches the eye of Jimmy, looking to use it as a means to an end. When these two sides finally culminate, it is glorious to see unfold. Within the third act lies a sequence that is so goddamn heavy metal you won’t want to experience it anywhere else but right smack in the middle of a movie theater. The film has a strong score, but an equally strong soundtrack and the music choice along with the scene, is an immediate attention grabber.
A New Direction
As stated above, Danny Boyle does not return to direct this film; instead, Nia DaCosta takes up that responsibility and that was felt like a much wiser choice. I’d say that Boyle’s much more energetic approach to 28 Years Later fit for that film, but I don’t think it would’ve fit as well with this film. The first is a much faster pace and much more nerve-racking, it works best there as our first time back into this world because there is so much uncertainty through the viewpoint of Spike that that edge-of-your-seat fear is just incredible. For this, however, it’s not as fast-paced, and it isn’t written to be. Its a much more intimate story that DaCosta directs exceptionally well; there’s care and precision in her directing.
’28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’ – Final Thoughts
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is another incredible entry into Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s exciting new trilogy. Nia DaCosta excellently directs an intimate, gruesome, and heavy metal horror flick that takes us deeper into the malformed land of the infected. She balances these different ways of life and how the minds of survivors have changed over the course of nearly 30 years, how some have clung to their humanity and how others and gleefully dropped from the cliff and succumbed to their own madness. Ralph Fiennes and Jack O’Connell lead the film with what are surely to be two of the best performances of the year. The age of January being a dumping ground for films with low studio confidence is over, incredible movies are allowed to release whenever they want, and hopefully other studios take note of this.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple releases in theaters on January 16. Check out a trailer below:
