Alex Garland Says ’28 Years Later’ Isn’t About COVID But the Pandemic Still Shaped It: “It wouldn’t Have Been Possible to Work on This Film”

After more than two decades, the team behind 28 Days Later is back with a brand-new chapter in the zombie saga. Director Danny Boyle, writer Alex Garland, and cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, who all worked on the original 2002 film, have reunited for 28 Years Later, now in theaters through Sony Pictures Releasing.

The film picks up years after the Rage Virus first hit. This time, the story follows a small family—played by Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and newcomer Alfie Williams—who live on a quiet island far from the chaos of the infected mainland.

But when they head back to the mainland to search for supplies, they find themselves in deep trouble. Along the way, they face threats not just from the infected, but also from other survivors, including a few dangerous characters played by actors like Ralph Fiennes and Jack O’Connell.

In an interview with Variety, Alex Garland shared how the idea for this third film came together. He said that he and Boyle had been talking about it for years because the original movie had stayed relevant. After the COVID pandemic, Garland tried writing a script, but it didn’t feel right. “The script didn’t work. It was too generic,” he said. That failure actually helped him rethink things and come up with a bigger and more interesting story.

“But in a way, having taken the wrong step freed us up to think in a looser, more expansive way. Then another story arrived that was a lot bigger in scope, and at that point, we felt, “OK, this is what we’ll work on.”

Garland made it clear that while the pandemic did influence the film in some ways, it wasn’t the main focus. “COVID was something that had happened… it wouldn’t have been possible to work on this film without being informed of it in some way. But that doesn’t mean it was the reason or the instigator or the core theme. It wasn’t.”

Garland also said the original version of the script followed a common path in virus stories—trying to weaponize it—but it felt lazy. “There was something lazy about it,” he admitted. Instead, the final version of the movie chose a different direction and focused more on the world as it is now, including some ideas about isolation and fear.

The cast is filled with big names. Along with Comer, Taylor-Johnson, and Fiennes, the movie also stars Edvin Ryding and Chi Lewis-Parry. Jack O’Connell plays the leader of a bizarre cult, and Emma Laird, Erin Kellyman, and others make up his eerie group of followers. The film was also executive produced by Cillian Murphy, who starred in the original movie.

28 Years Later was released on June 20, 2025, and it has already earned $60 million at the box office, matching its production budget. Critics are mostly enjoying it. The movie has an 89% score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 76 out of 100 on Metacritic. Some reviews have been glowing. Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph gave it a perfect score, saying it’s Danny Boyle’s best work since Slumdog Millionaire. The Times also praised it for being bold and confident.

Not everyone was impressed, though. The Wall Street Journal’s Kyle Smith called it forgettable and said it felt like one of Boyle’s weaker efforts. Adam Graham from The Detroit News gave it a harsh grade, saying the film was too messy and didn’t know what it wanted to be.

Sony has already confirmed that 28 Years Later was filmed back-to-back with a sequel, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, which is set to come out in January 2026.

In my view, this new film feels like a solid return to form for the franchise. It’s gritty, weird, and full of energy. I liked that it didn’t rely too much on the past or try to copy what worked before. It took some big risks, and even if not all of them land, I’d rather see a movie try something new than play it safe.

What did you think of 28 Years Later? Did it live up to the hype? Let us know in the comments below!