‘28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’ review: A bit stuck in the middle

With zombie-horror flick “28 Years Later” having arrived in theaters only half a year or so ago, the makers of its sequel proceed under the belief that not only have you seen the 2025 entry but that you remember it fairly well.

The ever-so-slightly stronger “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” has no interest in catching you up, the expectedly grim film diving right back into the story of teenager Spike (Alfie Williams) and, eventually, that of literally colorful physician Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes).

Certainly, franchise veteran scribe Alex Garland — who penned the film that started it all, 2003’s “28 Days Later,” as well as “28 Years Later,” while serving only as a producer on 2007’s “28 Weeks Later” — operates as if the viewer knows all about the Rage Virus that, nearly three decades ago, turned much of humanity into mindless killing machines. Appropriately, though, “The Bone Temple” positions not the “infected” but autonomous humans as the primary danger.

While director Danny Boyle matches Garland’s history with the franchise — helming the first and third films while producing the second — he hands the “Bone Temple” reins to Nia DaCosta, who impressed at the helm of the 2021 update of “Candyman.” She brings a less frenetic but more impactful style to the franchise, with “The Bone Temple” trying to hit you less frequently but hitting harder when it lands punches.

‘28 Days Later’ review: Boyle returns with visceral, prequel-like sequel

The action picks up, with Spike required to earn a place with the Jimmies — the cult led by Sir Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell), a character who bookends “28 Years Later” but otherwise sits out the affair — to avoid death. Well, with a bit of luck, he wins a fight to the death with one of Jimmy’s “Fingers” and takes the young man’s place as one of the minions. Spike, understandably, fights to survive but wants no part of the group, reluctantly donning one of the blond wigs the Fingers wear to look like their Satan-worshipping leader.

Soon, the cult is up to its particularly sadistic brand of no good, offering what they call “charity” to several inhabitants of a farmhouse they invade. (An act known as “the removal of the shirt” is much worse than it sounds.) Spike squirms away from the proceedings, causing Jimmy to wonder if — as hard to believe as it may be — the boy is not a true believer.

Meanwhile, not far away, Dr. Kelson continues to preside over his unique above-ground cemetery, the bone temple consisting of hundreds of thousands of carefully arranged bones, and listening to a surprising amount of Duran Duran. He becomes more invested in Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry), the large, strong and fast infected “Alpha” whom he regularly sedates with a cocktail that includes morphine. As Samson comes to seek this treatment, Kelson begins to wonder if a flickering spark of humanity remains buried within this mammoth.

However, Kelson’s work in this arena is complicated when Jimmy becomes aware of this bald man whose skin has turned orange from the iodine-based treatment he gives himself as a chemical armor against the virus. Jimmy wonders if Kelson may be his “father” — Satan, or, as he likes to call him, “Old Nick” — and seeks an audience with him.

We won’t say much more about how these storylines converge, but know that Fiennes, with a little help from Iron Maiden’s “The Number of the Beast,” is incredible in the film’s climactic scene. This “show,” as a character will come to call it, is worth the price of a ticket alone.

Fiennes (“Conclave,” “The Menu”) gives the film’s best performance overall, too, but O’Connell (“Sinners”), with his charismatic presence, makes Jimmy more compelling than the character is as written.

We understand why Jimmy is the way he is, but that doesn’t mean we buy it. This is extremely horrific behavior that mostly seems to serve as shock value for the viewer.

At least Spike finds an ally in Erin Kellyman’s Jimmy Ink, a Finger made of tougher stuff than him but possessing a nature not as cruel as the others’.

As with its predecessor, “The Bone Temple” holds your interest while seemingly having disappointingly little to say about humanity as viewed through this horrifying lens. We wanted more from the last one and find ourselves landing in the same place here, though this film is infused with an appealing sense of spirituality lacking in last year’s affair.

Regardless, the ending of “28 Years Later” was designed to set up “The Bone Temple,” and the conclusion of this second chapter certainly sets up a third. While the first two entries in this potential trilogy were filmed back-to-back, Sony Pictures green-lit the next movie only late last year, so it should be a bit more of a wait for it to land on the big screen.

It’s not much of a secret at this point, but we’ll just say to expect a familiar face to be front and center when it does.

‘28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’

Where: Theaters.

When: Jan. 16.

Rated: R for strong bloody violence, gore, graphic nudity, language throughout, and brief drug use.

Runtime: 1 hour, 50 minutes.

Stars (of four): 2.5.