This is the fourth installment in the series that began with 28 Days Later (2002), which was a zombie film. It was followed by 28 Weeks Later (2007). On June 20, Sony Pictures released the third called 28 Years Later (2025). Technically speaking, the film came 23 years after the first. That math didn't time out to match the title, but, for this fourth film, the distributor released it on January 19, which is seven months after the last one, or 28 weeks later. That math was timed out perfectly, mainly because this film was shot concurrently with the third one.
Ralph Fiennes (Conclave and Schindler's List) stars as Ian Kelson, a doctor who is a lone survivor of the outbreak of the rage virus that created the very aggressive and quick-moving zombies. Ian lives by himself in the Scottish Highlands, which is in the northern part of the country. He constructed a memorial to all the people who have died due to the outbreak consisting of the cleaned skeletons of various humans. He's also been conducting experiments on the zombies or the infected in order to figure out an antidote or possible cure.
Chi Lewis-Parry, a stunt performer and MMA fighter, plays "Samson," a large man, 6-foot-9, who was infected and became a zombie. Yet, Samson is also known as an "alpha," which is a zombie that has some intelligence rather than behaving like a rabid animal. Samson lives in the woods not far from Ian's memorial. When a teenage boy and his mother encounter Samson, he chases them toward the memorial. Most human survivors do what they can to kill the zombies, but, instead of killing Samson, Ian is able to save the teenage boy by drugging Samson. Ian uses a blowgun to shoot a dark into Samson that pumps him with morphine. This is what happened in the 2025 film. This 2026 film reveals that Samson keeps showing up at the memorial and Ian keeps blowing a morphine dart into Samson.
As a result, this film also reveals that Samson has essentially become a morphine addict. Samson stumbles back into the woods after getting hit with the dart, high on drugs. Normally, Samson is violent and kills any human who crosses his path, but, while high on drugs, he's calm and peaceful. Sometimes, Samson is so calm that he stays at the memorial with Ian, which allows Ian to earn Samson's trust and also experiment on him, attempting to cure him. Director Nia DaCosta (The Marvels and Candyman) gives us some insight into Samson's point-of-view, but it's not nearly enough.
Jack O'Connell (Sinners and Unbroken) co-stars as Jimmy Crystal, a survivor of the outbreak whose father was a vicar at a church. As a result, Jimmy has become a Satanist or a cult leader whose goal seems to be converting young people into his cult, while also killing other people by skinning them alive. Unfortunately, a large chunk of the film is dedicated to this character and his cult. Yes, the previous installment set him up with this film basically being Jimmy's story about how religiosity can take hold and corrupt.
Yet, I think it detracts from the story line between Ian and Samson and specifically the character of Samson. It's rare for a zombie flick to give the perspective of the zombie. DaCosta provides glimpses of Samson's perspective and of his memories, but, again, it's not nearly enough. If there is a sequel to this film, it's hopeful that more with Samson would occur. We only got glimpses of Jimmy in the 2025 film, so the fact that the film gives him center stage here could be a template. This film's best scenes involve the intersection of Jimmy and Ian at the end, particularly in the film's final act, but reveling in the torture and death in the first and second acts didn't appeal to me and were in fact boring, as zombie flicks or monster flicks typically revel in the monstrosity of humans. It's cliché at this point. Seeing a zombie like Samson regain his humanity is the newer and more interesting story. Yet, that story gets short shrift here.
Rated R for strong bloody violence, gore, graphic nudity, language and drug use.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 49 mins.
In theaters.