This is a film which is driven by story, not violence.
28 Days Later (2003)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:196
Fresh:173
Rotten:23
Average Rating:7.3/10
Consensus: 28 Days Later is both a terrifying zombie movie and a sharp political allegory.
Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Synopsis: After breaking into a primate research facility, a group of animal rights activists discover caged chimps chained up before banks of screens displaying horrifically violent images. Ignoring the... After breaking into a primate research facility, a group of animal rights activists discover caged chimps chained up before banks of screens displaying horrifically violent images. Ignoring the warnings of the terrified researcher who maintains the chimps are 'infected', they begin to free the animals and are immediately subjected to a bloody attack from the enraged creatures. 28 days later… Cycle courier Jim (Cillian Murphy) awakes from a coma in the deserted intensive care unit of a London hospital. Mystified, he wanders the wards and corridors in search of others and eventually heads into the city streets, calling out for help. As the shadows lengthen Jim seeks shelter in a church only to find dead bodies piled in heaps on the chapel floor. A sudden noise alerts him to the presence of a priest but his lightening speed, blood stained eyes and murderous screams send Jim reeling into the street. More "infected" are attracted by the noise and Jim runs in panic and confusion as a growing flock sprint after him through the dark streets. A sudden explosion from a makeshift bomb heralds the arrival of fellow "survivors" Selena (NAOMIE HARRIS) and Mark (NOAH HUNTLEY). Following a daring rescue they take Jim to safety and start to explain to him the nature of the infection, that it is transmitted in the blood, is overwhelming within seconds, that Britain has been overrun and that they have no way of knowing if it has spread worldwide. Selena and Mark reluctantly agree to help the shell-shocked Jim return home to Deptford to find his parents, with terrifying consequences. Later, as they sneak through the darkened streets, Selena and Jim spot a lone light in a tower block and investigate to see if there are other survivors. The unlikely pair they find are father and daughter Frank (BRENDAN GLEESON) and Hannah (MEGAN BURNS) whose water supplies are running dangerously low and are desperate to find alternative shelter. As the group takes shelter in the tower block, an automated radio broadcast is picked up. A Manchester-based group of soldiers, led by Major Henry West (CHRISTOPHER ECCLESTON), claim to have the 'answer' to infection and invite any survivors to join them at their blockade. Faced with no practical alternative, the group sets out northwards in Frank's black cab unaware that the worst is yet to come. Directed by Danny Boyle, 28 DAYS LATER is from an original screenplay by Alex Garland, the author of The Beach, and produced by Andrew Macdonald. The film stars Cillian Murphy (DISCO PIGS), Naomie Harris (WHITE TEETH), Christopher Eccleston (24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE, THE OTHERS, SHALLOW GRAVE), Megan Burns (LIAM) and Brendan Gleeson (THE GANGS OF NEW YORK, THE GENERAL, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: A.I). [More]
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston, Megan Burns
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston, Megan Burns, Brendan Gleeson, Luke Mably
Director: Danny Boyle
Director: Danny Boyle
Screenwriter: Alex Garland
Producer: Andrew MacDonald
Composer: John Murphy
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Reviews for 28 Days Later
Forget viruses and bioterror; the modern world, Boyle suggests, is enough to turn us into 'the Infected'...
In Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, a gypsy tells Jonathan Harker that "the dead travel fast." When you see HOW fast the zombies are in this film, you'll believe it.
...Grippingly grotesque...Boyle’s surly and hellish sideshow is profoundly intoxicating in its tangy ugly creepiness. 28 Days Later is ruefully soulful in its scruffy flamboyance
I enjoyed watching this film, mostly because Murphy and Harris make such an appealing central couple to build a new world around. But nobody should mistake this for a killer-zombie movie with real soul.
A riveting chiller that is more than just a zombie movie and better than most post-apocalypse films.
28 Days Later isn't just one of the most effective movies of the year, but also one of the most unsettling and disturbing films of its genre: a true reminder of what being scared is all about.
Holds a handful of chilling scenes and unforgettable images, but its cumulative effect is one of disappointment and missed opportunities.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a major release this ballsy and unpredictable.
In its defense, 28 Days Later does reveal the occasional inspired moment.
Don't go expecting a zombie film, but if you want to be scared, it's something to see.
Detestable, not just because its action is so vile or its technique so crude, but because its moral imagination is so impoverished.
This unrelenting horror tale's paranoid genius lies in equating free-floating wrath and physical sickness.
Director Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland have rebounded smartly from the bloated Leonardo DiCaprio debacle that was The Beach, their previous collaboration.
Funnier and smarter than the average movie in which flesh-eating ghouls chow on each other.
It's unpleasant stuff, told without winks or humor, and it's so perfectly pitched that you can't take your eyes off it, even if this sort of hard-edged horror isn't exactly your cup of Diet Coke.
It has eerie images, a compelling situation and an unusual capacity to surprise.
Latest News for 28 Days Later
October 06, 2008:
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Who is Paul Andrew Williams, and why is his name being bandied about in connection with "28 Months Later"? Follow the link to find out! More...
September 12, 2008:
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Could there possibly be a second sequel to "28 Days Later"? Danny Boyle thinks so, although he seems worried that his idea might be silly. More...
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