Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later scores a near-perfect RT score – Fans call it his best since Trainspotting

28 Years Later is up to a great start on Rotten Tomatoes with a 93% score based on 102 reviews. Some fans are also calling it director Danny Boyle's finest work since Trainspotting (1996).

The film marks Boyle's return to this post-apocalyptic horror film series that started with his 2002 film, 28 Days Later. Although often considered a classic zombie horror film, Boyle didn't see it that way. Still, it was a part of many 'best-of' lists from the year for how it revitalized this unique genre with Boyle's impeccable filmmaking chops.

Over two decades later, 28 Years Later becomes the third chapter from the series that shows humanity in crisis. Boyle directs this feature film with a script from Warfare and Civil War director Alex Garland. Their creative collaboration is being lauded by film critics and their critical consensus currently reads:

"28 Years Later taps into contemporary anxieties with the ferocious urgency of someone infected with Rage Virus, delivering a haunting and visceral thrill ride that defies expectations."

Let's look at what the film is about and what the critics are saying about the film.

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What is 28 Years Later about?

As the name suggests, 28 Years Later takes place more than two decades after the events from Boyle's foundational film. Its official plot synopsis reads:

"Academy Award®-winning director Danny Boyle and Academy Award®-nominated writer Alex Garland reunite for a terrifying new "auteur horror" story set in the world created by 28 Days Later. It's been almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory, and now, still, in a ruthlessly enforced quarantine, some have found ways to exist amidst the infected. One such group of survivors lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily-defended causeway. When one of the group leaves the island on a mission into the dark heart of the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors as well."

The cast includes Jodie Comer, Alfie Williams, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes, Jack O'Connell, Erin Kellyman, and more.

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What are the critics saying about 28 Years Later?

The latest Danny Boyle directorial has been getting glowing reviews from critics. 93% of reviews so far have been positive and they are praising Boyle's audacious approach to its subject matter and its relevance to the present socio-political climate across the globe.

Nick Schager from Daily Beast says it is,

"A gripping, unnerving, and altogether thrilling saga that both continues its predecessors’ illustrious legacy and initiates what’s shaping up to be a promising new horror trilogy."

David Rooney from The Hollywood Reporter writes,

"It never feels like a cynical attempt to revisit proven material merely for commercial reasons. Instead, the filmmakers appear to have returned to a story whose allegorical commentary on today’s grim political landscape seems more relevant than ever."

Liz Shannon Miller from Consequence says,

"Boyle and Garland’s return to the franchise seems deliberately set on reinventing as many cliches as it can, while also exploding our assumptions about what a zombie movie might be."

Bilge Ebiri from Vulture adds,

"It is choppy, muddled, strange, and not always convincing. But I’m not sure I’ll ever forget it."

Jacob Ollder from AV Club says,

"A blistering adventure filled with dread and wonder, there’s a macabre classicism to the film—a sense that, even if life as we know it falls apart, some essential elements persevere."

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28 Years Later is out in cinemas now.