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Young Alfie Williams shines in 28 Years Later, seen at The Light, Wisbech




Film review: 28 Years Later (15) - seen at The Light, Wisbech

Starring: Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes and Alfie Williams

Director: Danny Boyle Run time: One hour, 55 minutes

Alfie Williams, Jodie Comer and Ralph Fiennes in 28 Years Later
Alfie Williams, Jodie Comer and Ralph Fiennes in 28 Years Later

Two of Britain's finest actors star in this threequel to the 2002 classic 28 Days Later, again directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland.

But the fact that Jodie Comer and Ralph Fiennes don't steal the show is great credit to teenage rising star Alfie Williams.

For one so young to be in virtually every scene of this engaging horror-thriller is a testament to the 14-year-old’s wonderful acting ability.

The thoroughly enjoyable movie is set almost three decades after a highly contagious, aggression-inducing virus has turned victims into brain-dead killers, with survivors living simple lives in heavily enforced quarantine.

I didn't see the first film - 28 Days Later - starring wonderful Irish actor Cillian Murphy, who is executive director here, or the not-so-well-received 2007 sequel 28 Weeks Later.

But it's fine to go into this film blind, and in a way it probably helps the viewer invest in the four main characters, who are all portrayed so excellently.

Set on the Northumberland island of Lindisfarne in 2030, the action centres around 12-year-old Spike (Williams), his bedridden sick mum, Isla (Comer) and his alpha male dad Jamie (Taylor-Johnson), who live among a tight-knit community whose only link to the mainland is via a tidal causeway.

Civilised society has taken a step back, and as a coming-of-age ritual, Jamie takes Spike to the mainland to hunt mutants and get in his first trophy kills.

On returning to the island and a party celebrating his newfound manhood, a traumatised Spike witnesses his father with another woman. Angry at his him, Spike takes his mother to the mainland where he has heard rumours of a doctor, played by Fiennes.

Mutant action ensues, plus some unexpectedly touching and some tragic moments, as well as a brief chance to see the brilliance of Comer and Fiennes together.

Scenes involving the historic Sycamore Gap tree, cut down senselessly in 2023, add an unintended sadness. The shooting of the film finished just two months before this idiotic act.

Viewers will probably be mixed on the final scene. To me, it may have strayed too far away from what had come before, but it equally set things up for a sequel to the threequel!

By Jeremy Ransome
Rating 8/10



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