Summary
Any lingering hopes that28 Years Latermight have a happy ending can probably be laid to rest, all thanks to the movie Alex Garland admits heavily inspired his forthcoming zombie sequel. With such a large narrative gap since the last movie,28 Years Later’s storyis devilishly hard to predict. Cillian Murphy’s return is confirmed, but adding the likes of Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, and Ralph Fiennes signals that Danny Boyle andAlex Garland’s moviewill not directly continue on from previous entries.
With concrete information at a premium,28 Years Laterplot clues must instead be gleaned in other ways, including from the movieAlex Garland himself admits he’s “ripping off.“The28 Years Laterwriter has acknowledged that his upcoming threequel owes a huge debt toKes, a 1969 British film about a young child raising a kestrel, directed by Ken Loach. While the crossover section on the28 Years Later/KesVenn diagram may appear non-existent at first glance, Garland’s comparison potentially teases one key element of the forthcoming movie’s ending.
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28 Years Later’s Kes Comparison All But Confirms The Zombie Franchise Won’t End Happily
If 28 Years Later’s Ending Is Anything Like Kes, It Will Be Hard To Watch
As Garland describes,28 Years LaterfollowsKes' lead tonally, and also in terms of both stories being “focused around the experience of a young lad.” WhileKesis a celebrated piece of British cinema brimming with emotion, joy, and heartfelt coming-of-age triumph, it is also notorious for having one of the most emotionally devastating endings in movie history. The bond between main character Billy, played by David Bradley, and his kestrel represents the heart of the story, but the final act becomes steeped in tragedy when Billy’s half-brother kills the bird in an act of cruelty.Kesconcludes with a forlorn protagonist burying his feathered friend.
From a tonal and narrative perspective,Kes' unhappy ending is integral to the movie’s spirit and message. With a more upbeat finale, Billy’s story would carry nowhere near as much heft. If Alex Garland took notes from Ken Loach’s classic when writing28 Years Later, it feels almost inevitable that the long-awaited zombie sequel will honorKeswith a similarly tear-jerking final act, as any movie with an outright happy ending could never truly be described as ripping offKesin the first place.
While Billy’s story ends in tragedy,Kesdoes leave a glimmer of hope as the credits roll. The bird may be dead, but Billy has grown and matured throughout his experience, preventing the final scenes from feeling dominated by doom and gloom.28 Years Lateris well-suited for the same bittersweet closing notes just by virtue of being set during a zombie apocalypse, but refusing to offer audiences a clear-cut “happily ever after” also chimes with Alex Garland’s trademark style after movies likeEx Machina,Civil War, andAnnihilation.
28 Days Later Proves 28 Years Later Shouldn’t Have A Happy Ending
28 Days Later’s Alternate Ending Was Arguably More Appropriate
28 Years Laterending in misery feels even more likely after28 Days Latersomewhat controversially altered its finale.In an unused cut of the original 2002 movie, Cillian Murphy’s Jim diedafter being shot by Major West, leaving only Selena and Hannah to be rescued by Scandinavian planes in the last scene. The official cut of28 Days Later, however, shifted its approach and allowed Jim to survive too.
While there are merits to both versions, the final edit where all three main protagonists survive and, presumably, get rescued feels a little too saccharine against the otherwise grisly backdrop of28 Days Later. Frank’s death in the second act certainly casts a shadow over the entire movie, even at the end, butJim also dying would have underlined the ruthlessness of the apocalypseand, arguably, provided a satisfying full circle moment where Cillian Murphy’s character begins and ends his journey on a hospital bed.
After opting for the more crowd-pleasing route in28 Days Later, Alex Garland, now a far more established name in the industry, might be more tempted to take the emotionally draining path in28 Years Later. If the sequel truly is ripping offKes, it’s hard to imagine any other outcome.
28 Years Later
28 Years Later follows a group of survivors living on an isolated island nearly three decades after the rage virus outbreak. Venturing into the quarantine zone of the mainland, they uncover dangerous secrets and transformations among both the infected and other surviving factions.
