Taglines: The Days Are Numbered.
Animal activists invade a laboratory with the intention of releasing chimpanzees that are undergoing experimentation, infected by a virus -a virus that causes rage. The naive activists ignore the pleas of a scientist to keep the cages locked, with disastrous results. Twenty-eight days later, our protagonist, Jim, wakes up from a coma, alone, in an abandoned hospital.
He begins to seek out anyone else to find London is deserted, apparently without a living soul. After finding a church, which had become inhabited by zombie like humans intent on his demise, he runs for his life. Selena and Mark rescue him from the horde and bring him up to date on the mass carnage and horror as all of London tore itself apart. This is a tale of survival and ultimately, heroics, with nice subtext about mankind’s savage nature.
28 Days Later is a 2002 British post-apocalyptic horror film directed by Danny Boyle, written by Alex Garland, and starring Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson, Megan Burns, and Christopher Eccleston. The plot depicts the breakdown of society following the accidental release of a highly contagious virus and focuses upon the struggle of four survivors to cope with the destruction of the life they once knew.
Successful both commercially and critically, the film is credited with reinvigorating the zombie genre of horror film. The film spawned a 2007 sequel, 28 Weeks Later, a graphic novel titled 28 Days Later: The Aftermath, which expands on the timeline of the outbreak, and a 2009 comic book series titled 28 Days Later.
About the Story
In Cambridge, three animal liberation activists break into a medical research laboratory. A scientist in the lab desperately warns them against releasing the captive chimpanzees, which are infected with a highly contagious rage-inducing virus. Ignoring his pleas, the activists release a chimp, which infects a female activist. She then attacks and infects everyone else present.
28 days later, in London, Jim, a bicycle courier, awakens from a coma in St Thomas’ Hospital. He finds the entire hospital deserted. He wanders the streets of London, finding it deserted as well, with signs of catastrophe everywhere. Jim enters a church where a mass suicide has taken place, aside from two infected who are alerted by him saying “Hello?”
He then finds a priest, who turns out to be infected. Jim flees, attracting attention of more infected, but survivors Selena and Mark rescue him. At their shelter, they explain to Jim that while he was in a coma, a virus had spread quickly among the populace, resulting in societal collapse. They claim the virus had been reported in Paris and New York City as well, suggesting the infection has spread worldwide.
The next day, Selena and Mark accompany Jim to his parents’ house in Deptford, where he discovers they committed suicide in bed together. That night, the three are attacked by more infected. Mark is bitten, and Selena kills him. She curtly explains that the virus spreads through blood and saliva and overwhelms its victims in 10 to 20 seconds. She warns that should Jim become infected, she will kill him “in a heartbeat”.
The two see some blinking Christmas lights from Balfron Tower and head there. They discover two more survivors – cab driver Frank and his daughter Hannah – who allow them to take shelter. The next day, Frank informs them that their supplies – particularly water – are dwindling. He plays them a pre-recorded radio broadcast from a military blockade near Manchester, claiming they have “the answer to infection” and promises to protect any survivors who reach them.
The group board Frank’s cab and head to Manchester, bonding with one another during the trip. At the deserted blockade, Frank is infected when a drop of blood falls into his eye. He is killed by the arriving soldiers, who take the remaining survivors to a fortified mansion under the command of Major Henry West.
West reveals to Jim that his “answer to infection” entails waiting for the infected to starve to death and luring female survivors into sexual slavery to repopulate the world. The group attempts to flee, but Jim is captured and chained next to Sergeant Farrell, a dissenting soldier. Farrell shares with Jim his speculation that the virus has not spread beyond Great Britain and that the country is being quarantined.
28 Days Later (2003)
Directed by: Danny Boyle
Starring: Noah Huntley, Megan Burns, Bindu De Stoppani, Christopher Eccleston, Brendan Gleeson, Naomie Harris, Jukka Hiltunen, Luke Mably, Cillian Murphy, Ray Panthaki
Screenplay by: Alex Garland
Production Design by: Mark Tildesley
Cinematography by: Anthony Dod Mantle
Film Editing by: Chris Gill
Costume Design by: Rachael Fleming
Art Direction by: Mark Digby, Patrick Rolfe
Music by: Andrew Macdonald, John Murphy
MPAA Rating: R for strong violence and gore, language and nudity.
Distributed by: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Release Date: June 27, 2003
Visits: 116
