By ROBERT DANVERS
Starring Ralph Fiennes, Jack O’Connell and Alfie Williams
Directed by Nia DaCosta
Written by Alex Garland
Sony/Columbia
Exiting a local theater showing 28 YEARS LATER…: THE BONE TEMPLE, this reviewer participated in one of the now-ubiquitous (at least for genre movies) tablet-enabled exit surveys. When queried if the previous films in this series had been seen, it was asserted and emphasized that they all were, as theatrical experiences. And indeed, anyone considering seeing this direct sequel to 28 YEARS LATER… should make sure to do so on the big screen. For director Nia DaCosta (2021’s CANDYMAN) has taken the helming reins and cracked them hard with her regular DP, ace Sean Bobbitt. These artisans respect what was established with the prior entry, yet vary the new movie’s pacing and tone so as to disturb and intrigue.
It’s not taking anything away from twice-over series-inaugurating filmmaker Danny Boyle’s achievement(s) to say that THE BONE TEMPLE improves on the preceding feature. Much of what was done under Boyle’s hand is not repeated here, in terms of viscera or filmmaking aesthetic. This approach is allowed for, and encouraged, via returning writer and original creator Alex Garland’s screenplay, which is very much a bridge narrative as part of the planned new trilogy.
From the git-go, THE BONE TEMPLE does not stint on ghastly gore—after all, the virus-crazed killers are still roaming the UK countryside with considerable speed and strength—and bodily violations by and of both infected and humans. Picking up after the end of the last movie, we rejoin uprooted preteen Spike (reprised by young actor Alfie Williams) far from home and in the clutches of the warped and preening Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal. The latter, seen very briefly at the close of the previous film, is again played by Jack O’Connell—who here delivers a villainous turn even more unsettling than his vampire-lord antagonist in SINNERS. Sir Lord Jimmy’s sway over his peroxide-wigged gang is at best Dickensian and at worst child-soldiers-conscripting-level. To the latter point, DaCosta immediately places the viewer into terrified solidarity with Spike as he desperately tries to navigate the forced march he is on while holding onto his humanity. Sir Lord Jimmy not only preaches fealty to Satan but also practices what he preaches, exhorting his acolytes to embrace and employ their worst instincts—on each other or any survivors unfortunate enough to cross their path.
The more compassionate father figure that Spike had previously encountered, Dr. Ian Kelson (returnee Ralph Fiennes), remains selflessly committed to his lonely efforts of memorializing the dead in his looming Bone Temple of cleansed skulls. He is also experimenting with chemicals and formulas in hopes of moving the needle (literally) for the afflicted. Still in the vicinity of Dr. Kelson’s carefully fortified and maintained stronghold is the towering “Alpha” Samson (also encoring Chi Lewis-Parry), who can vanquish anyone and anything. As before, Dr. Kelson is armed and ready when Samson comes a-calling…
…but what happens next pivots the arcing narrative and this story proper into surprising directions. The dynamics between Dr. Kelson and Samson, and among Spike and the “Jimmys,” are deftly steered by DaCosta through sequences of mounting tension that here subtly recall classic Western/frontier cinema face-offs. The logistical staging of sequences also has Western DNA, such as the scouting of a nearby encampment and deciding to wait until nightfall. THE BONE TEMPLE benefits from disdaining many shocker conventions, instead sustaining an anxious dread of how or when an interaction might go fatally south.
Amidst horrific fates, Garland’s script provides opportunities for the actors to drill down into their characters; where, one wonders, is the already overdue Honorary Oscar for the great Fiennes? The versatile Erin Kellyman, as one of the “Jimmys,” is another standout. It must be said that some of the scenarios and/or character decisions skirt contrivance; one early setpiece seems engineered to be as bloodily pain-inflicting as possible until someone finally Does Something, while a late one may put viewers in mind of plausibility issues more common to a SAW movie.
But THE BONE TEMPLE honors constants and concerns from its predecessor films while also ratcheting up the tension. When familiar tropes do arrive, they feel refreshed within this context, while also adding to the suspense and horror that the movie does not shy away from. As the new movie decisively reaches a startling conclusion, one paradoxically is left hoping for the planned third film to happen—and hopefully sooner than 28 months later…
