Director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, Trainspotting) and writer Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Civil war) are back where it all began. The new trailer for 28 Years Later, the latest chapter in the rage virus saga, has dropped — and it’s an intense re-entry into one of horror’s most influential universes. Take a look above.
It’s been nearly three decades since the virus first escaped a lab and turned Britain inside out. Now, the world’s still under strict quarantine, but people have adapted — some barely. The film introduces a small group of survivors clinging to life on a fortified island, connected to the mainland by a single, heavily guarded causeway. That fragile stability is shattered when one of them heads back to the mainland… and uncovers exactly the kind of horrors you’d expect after thirty years of infection, rot, and desperation.
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The new footage focuses on Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s character and his son (Alfie Williams) as they leave the relative safety of their community. What follows? Flashes of chaos, twisted infected, a world that’s gone to hell. We even get a mad priest. While Jodie Comer and Jack O’Connell‘s roles are still kept mostly in the shadows, we do get a glimpse of Ralph Fiennes‘ character, Dr. Kelson. “There are many kinds of death,” he says. “And some are better than others.”
Also returning? That raw, low-fi aesthetic. And no, you’re not imagining it — parts of the film were reportedly shot on an iPhone 15 Pro Max, an inspired callback to the gritty visuals of 28 Days Later.
Garland’s script sets the tone for what’s been announced as the first in a new trilogy. Just don’t expect answers to all your questions yet — like when Cillian Murphy’s Jim will return (no, turns out that that infected guy in the first trailer was not Murphy). “You may have to wait a little while for him to make his appearance,” Boyle teased recently at CinemaCon.
28 Years Later will spread into Australian cinemas on June 19 and US cinemas on June 20.
