Polygon.com / 24.06.25

28 Years Later's ending sets up a very controversial sequel

28 Years Later is a superb, multifaceted horror movie with a lot of different things on its mind, and over its two hours it moves through quite a few tonal shifts: folk horror, coming-of-age family drama, gory action movie, and surreal meditation on societal breakdown. Even in this context, though, the ending is jarring, and might leave viewers wondering: What was that all about? On one level, its a setup for the films sequel. Screenwriter Alex Garland wrote a trio of scripts for the return of the zombie franchise, and the second of these, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, has already been shot and will be released in January 2026. 28 Years Laters final scene clearly sets up characters who will play a big part in the next movie. But viewers outside the U.K. may not realize that the scene has an additional, shocking layer to it, because it makes explicit reference to perhaps the single most reviled figure in British contemporary culture: the media personality and prolific sexual abuser J...
Read more