Film Review: 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026): Ralph Fiennes Keeps the Action Compelling in a Rushed, but Worthy, Sequel
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple Review
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026) Film Review, a movie directed by Nia DaCosta, written by Alex Garland and starring Ralph Fiennes, Jack O’Connell, Alfie Williams, Connor Newall, Erin Kellyman, Maura Bird, Ghazi Al Ruffai, Robert Rhodes, Emma Laird, Sam Locke, Chi Lewis-Parry, Celi Crossland, Mirren Mack, Gordon Alexander, David Sterne, Elliot Benn and Louis Ashbourne Serkis.
Ralph Fiennes returns as the wise and earnest Dr. Kelson in director Nia DaCosta’s inspired sequel, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. A sophisticated man in a hell world of zombies, Kelson is an intelligent and fierce warrior although his outer appearance could fool characters like the main human villain in the movie, Sir Jimmy Crystal (a well-cast Jack O’Connell). DaCosta’s film starts off making a pregnant woman seem like she’s going to be the main protagonist here, but it is ultimately Fiennes’ movie to own, for better or worse. Luckily enough, it’s more for the better.
With an intense premise, plenty of blood and tearing of limbs and skin, expect 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple to serve as a die-hard fan of this franchise’s series favorite. As far as a sequel like this goes, it does seem to come too early, however, releasing just 7 months after 28 Years Later. We haven’t really had time to fully digest where the last picture stands in terms of quality as a franchise entry and, now, a “bigger” sequel has already been released. No matter, Fiennes keeps the movie worth watching as it explores heavy and volatile topics while dishing out the gore in respectable and sizable quantities.
Back on board is the young boy from the last movie, Spike (Alfie Williams) who has been recruited by the vicious Jimmy to be brutal beyond a reasonable doubt. This movie gets off to a gruesome start with a man’s leg (and lower area) spewing out blood, but nothing can prepare viewers for the scene where Jimmy and his followers suggest they are going to remove members of an innocent family’s “shirts.” Jimmy really means that their skin is to be removed and the movie graphically shows this brutality, but luckily to a proper extent that if you look away quickly, you will be able to (mostly) handle it. While the aforementioned pregnant woman manages to try to help those in danger temporarily, eventually a flamethrower appears which sets the location where the people are being tortured on fire. As the pregnant woman disappears, we get to know members of Jimmy’s cult who oftentimes, if not always, wear blonde wigs. Spike isn’t like them, but he’s treading on dangerous ground simply by association.
Fiennes’ Dr. Kelson examines one of the zombies he controls through his limited supply of morphine, Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry). With thick, wiggly lines on his body that are hard to look at, Samson is the study object that Dr. Kelson examines to decipher how the zombies perceive their prey. Dr. Kelson researches psychosis and tries to treat it, but soon Jimmy proves a formidable obstacle to Kelson’s own way of life. Jimmy Crystal makes Dr. Kelson the offer to pose as a specific person to soothe Jimmy’s eager followers and as Kelson tries to outsmart Jimmy Crystal, the viewer is treated to some mind games between Kelson and the satanic cult leader. Meanwhile, Spike gets to know “Jimmy Ink” (Erin Kellyman, always fascinating to watch) in the interim.
This movie is noteworthy for offering further use of the vertically impressive bone temple (mostly built by head skulls) that was showcased in 28 Years Later, but the fact that Jodie Comer left the series leaves a void that Fiennes often tries to fill through his keen and often detail-filled dialogue within the new film. Fiennes is looking bloody and under nourished most of the time, but the actor keeps the intensity and the solemn nature of the character intact. We don’t know if Jimmy Crystal will want to be his friend or his arch enemy for a while until the bad guy reveals his dire intentions for Kelson. The showstopper is the use of makeup to turn Fiennes’ Kelson into a satanic looking leader, but I’ll say no more as the movie plays out in a rather effective and compelling nature.
Of course, the rumors are true and a certain male someone from an earlier part of this franchise appears. This character’s distinct presence in the series is made known. Viewers will not be disappointed by the ending which leaves room for another sequel which is said to potentially be focusing on the pregnant woman in this new sequel who escapes early on and never pops up again in the latter part of the movie.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple doesn’t have as many zombie attack scenes as I would have liked, but that hardly lessens the quality of the film too much. It’s kind of unusual to see Fiennes chewing scenery in a genre picture rather than something more Oscar-caliber, but his performance is equally stellar in the new film to his very different Oscar-nominated work in the recent Conclave. Jack O’Connell holds his own with his evil and menacing monster of a character that audiences will love to hate and want to see crucified (wait, did I give something away?) by the time the film ends. Also impressive is the work of the young Williams who once again is charismatic beyond a reasonable doubt.
In the final analysis, 28 Years: The Bone Temple is the type of movie that you’ll know if you want to see simply by watching the trailer. This review has warned you of the overall gruesome nature of the movie. Some scenes are nothing short of a bloodbath, but most of those sequences don’t prominently showcase the versatile Fiennes. If you focus on Fiennes’ scenes alone and ignore everything else, 28 Years: The Bone Temple will be that much better to behold in all its bloody glory.
Rating: 7.5/10
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