Phrasemaker

After precisely 28 weeks since the release of 28 Years Later, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, has arrived to haunt cinemas as one of the biggest horror releases of 2026. With new director Nia DaCosta of Candyman and Hedda fame at the helm, the story kicks off right where the last film ended, continuing the storylines of Samson and Dr. Ian Kelson, as well as Spike and his devilish new group, the Jimmies. Does it live up to its predecessors 28 Days, 28 Weeks, and 28 Years, however?

The Bone Temple left me with very mixed feelings, almost to the point of disappointment. Unlike most, I really enjoyed what Danny Boyle and Alex Garland created with the first 28 Years Later. The coming-of-age survival story following Alfie Williams’ Spike as he goes on a hunting trip with his father, and then later goes on a daring journey to get his ill mother to Dr. Kelson at the Bone Temple, protecting her from various threats along the way, was a perfect storyline complete with plenty of incredible set pieces and emotionally moving.

There was an abundance of intense sequences with plenty of horror and suspense, along with very interesting experimental choices with the editing and camerawork. I mean, it was impressively shot on iPhone 15 and managed to somehow create my favorite sequence of the year for horror, with the shot of Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Alfie Williams outrunning the Alpha on the watery path of the causeway under the glowing night sky.

Characters, like Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Jamie, Jodie Comer’s Isla, Alfie Williams’ brave Spike, Edvin Ryding’s Swede soldier Erik, and, of course, Ralph Fiennes’ Dr. Ian Kelson and Jack O’Connell’s brief cameo of adult Sir Jimmy Crystal, were executed wonderfully. The ending that entailed the introduction of the Jimmies, though controversial for most, had me excited for what comes next. It was Power Rangers meets Clockwork Orange, and O’Connell’s delivery of “Let’s f*king go” was the energy I had coming into the sequel.

Well, that excitement pretty much stayed there. The first half-hour of The Bone Temple proves to be the most promising, and then once you’re really with the Jimmies, it all kind of falls flat from there. While the style is very different from the get-go without Boyle’s presence, Nia DaCosta still does a fantastic job directing the story from Garland, which is a much weaker script than the previous film. Unfortunately, The Bone Temple plays more like a half-baked horror comedy than the serious and more horrifying tone of the past installments.

From the opening scene of Spike’s initiation into the Jimmy cult, where he must fight one of the current Jimmies and kill him to take his place, the tone feels very off. An unrealistic amount of blood begins to spurt into a river from the leg of Spike’s foe, which immediately calls to mind the final moments of The Substance. Then, when the camera makes it over to Ralph Fiennes’ Kelson, he’s out there having dance parties with his Alpha pet project, Samson. The numerous frames here of Fiennes and Chi Lewis-Parry’s Samson dancing and hanging out like buddies are probably the silliest thing you’ll see at the cinema this year.

The Jimmies, while sinister, yes, turn out to be extremely uninteresting and underdeveloped. They’re led by O’Connell’s Sir Jimmy Crystal, and go about targeting a random group of survivors they just happen to encounter while on their aimless stroll through the post-apocalyptic land, brutally terrorizing them in a barn before everything goes south, with Spike trying to escape them every step of the way. And then, when one of them finds Kelson’s Bone Temple, O’Connell’s Sir Jimmy Crystal strikes a deal for Kelson to convince the remaining Jimmies that he is, in fact, Satan, whom they are followers of. That’s about the extent of their story.

This leads into the very overhyped Iron Maiden number performed by Ralph Fiennes that’s nowhere near as huge of a moment as the musical numbers in Sinners, as some have compared. Fiennes’ Dr. Kelson puts on full-body makeup to best resemble the devil and proceeds to sing and dance around the Bone Temple to Iron Maiden’s ‘Number of the Beast.’ While most were left astonished by this moment, I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of how it all played out, especially catering to the delusions of their satanism. And while Jack O’Connell is supposed to be a menacing cult leader, I honestly couldn’t help but laugh at some of the dialogue he had because of how his delusions sound, not to mention Emma Laird’s Jimmima performing an awkward Teletubby dance at one point.

I think the strongest part of The Bone Temple was when it focused on Samson and his storyline of getting treated and inevitably cured by Kelson (and their delightful, fun bromance). That was the most interesting arc and resulted in a great payoff in the end, while also expanding on the lore of the series. There were quite a few twists and intriguing ideas when you’re in Samson’s Rage virus POV as well.

The Jimmies, on the other hand, sadly proved quite a dud, and all the side characters within that cult, save for Erin Kellyman’s Jimmy Ink, became such throwaway antagonists, with their deaths proving very insignificant to the overall weight of the story, like they didn’t even need to be there. How the Jimmies converge with Kelson felt very narratively forced too.

The more infuriating part, however, was that Alfie Williams’ Spike doesn’t have much of a presence, certainly not like in the first movie, and it was a travesty to see him play second fiddle. Not getting Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s character or seeing what’s happening at their isolated island, especially with the baby, Isla, was also a bit disappointing, even though knowing that going into the film.

The ending, with the return of Cillian Murphy, was the moment everyone had been waiting for and was a highlight of the final act, but at the same time, still very questionable as to how and why he’s there. The original theme playing over the end credits still wasn’t enough to satisfy me of this near-nothingburger interlude into the third movie, where Cillian Murphy’s Jim will (hopefully) play a larger role. But you’ll also see Murphy first in the Peaky Blinders follow-up film on Netflix in 2026.