28 Years Later | Trailer Brakedown

The bones are their money; all they want is another chance at life

The bones are their money. So are the worms.

I care way too much about commercials. I talk about them a lot, and sometimes, I write about them. This is one of those times [Law & Order CHUNK CHUNK]

They’ve never seen so much food as this. Underground, there’s half as much food as this.

Little boxes, made of ticky tacky. Little boxes on the hillside, little boxes all the same… There’s a green one and a pink one, and a blue one and a yellow one!

Well, that last image certainly doesn’t seem like a good sign. It IS, however, a totally fair response to Teletubbies.

Whew. This one is a good trailer, and I anticipate a taut, thrilling… thrill-ride. Guys, I am having, like, an allergic attack. I have sneezed roughly 200 times in the last half hour. I cannot hear, breathe or think, so pretty much the only thing in the world I can do is a trailer brakedown.

This one opens with a panning shot of some British township, probably Leeds or Manchester or Stratford-upon-Avon or something ridiculous like that, and I’m immediately reminded of the opening credits of Weeds, with Mary Louise Parker. A woman, heroically attempting to save children from the Rage-virus apocolypse we know to be raging outside, ducks into the room and stashes another kid, then tells them to be quiet and stay put.

She probably isn’t successful? There’s a splash of blood across the same television showing the same Teletubbies program, so it’s probably a cutaway so we don’t have to see children slaughtered on camera. I hope.

The official synopsis holds some sketchy hints as to what awaits, but the real tidbits are in the trailer, itself, in bits and bobs and little, provocative flashes. Kinda like that guy in the park with the trenchcoat.

10,228 divided by 365 equals 28.022, so that math checks out. The church scene here reminds me of Kingsman, and the whole trailer gives very strong Last of Us energy.

This is the tiny island in question; there is much discussion of the causeway, which can be seen in the upper left, pointing off to the northwest, if we’re oriented facing North. One way in; one way out.

Much of this trailer is just a montage of mostly-still images, and they get progressively weirder and more intense, as does the narration; the trailer makes excellent use of the Taylor Holmes 1915 spoken-word rendition of Boots by Rudyard Kipling, which amps up in intensity and madness with each successive line.

28 Weeks became 28 Years, mostly through a process known as Time

Roles In Our Community: The first three are deliberately obscured, but are probably Hunter, Sower and Reaper/Gatherer. The next three are explicitly named, councillor and seamster in what appears to be the common standard font, and then Watch Tower has been added post hoc. Watch Tower likely a new role in this community, or at least, newer.

Speak of the devil: this is probably the very same watchtower, and it appears to be oriented to protect the causeway, which in this sunset shot (and probably around sunrise and sunset every day, going in and out with the tides) is underwater.

“BEHOLD, JIMMY, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS.” Aaron Taylor-Johnson appearing as Aaron-Taylor Johnson as he’s ever Taylor-Johnsoned; is he the HE that is coming with the clouds? Jimmy? Kraven? Not for nothing, I’m a sucker for the True-Detective-Season-One, cryptic-post-apoc-graffiti trope.

A closer shot of two figures on the causeway, probably making their way from the island to the mainland. The aged, distressed causeway sign appears to read: ‘Danger | Holy Island | Causeway… look at… tide tables’ or something to that effect. So tides are important; we’re seeing it over and over again already.

So far, there’s a lot of Aaron-Taylor Johnson just Aaron Taylor-Johnsoning up the joint, which I’m happy for him to do, but boy, is he in a lot of stuff now. Overexposed? I’m certainly making note of seeing him in everything, including some properties I resent, like Kraven the (Alleged) Hunter.

This island is their safe space. I think it’s probably called On-The-Nose Island or Holy Island, based on the signage.

So far, Boyle has won (for Slumdog Millionaire in 2009, Best Director) and Alex Garland has been nominated (Best Original Screenplay, for Ex Machina and lost to Spotlight in 2016). So this is an all-star team-up.

More spooky images. The one on the left features Rage-infected ‘zombies’ running towards camera with a spooky tree, all backlit, but the spookiest image of all might be that one zombie is standing perfectly still, watching, as the others rage forward. Evolution? Growth? And then we have a frame from probably one of The Purge films that got in here by mistake, I presume.

This is where it starts to get really interesting, and VERY Last of Us. There is a large, rippling, muscled (but decomposed) back shown in the foreground of the top left image, apparently in the woods. Perhaps that same creature or a larger or different one is shown in close quarters attacking armed soldiers. The attacker towers over the presumably average-height soldier who responds by simply screaming and getting absolutely wrecked. The soldier that is watching it happen pans uppppppp with his eyes to about eight, nine, maybe ten feet? And then we get a wider shot of the first soldier being ragdolled by the giant zombie.

So, I don’t think zombies built this shrine. But I could be wrong. It appears to be made entirely of human bones and skulls, with obelisks or pillars of bone and little embellishments or bone-wreaths. It’s a real example of versatility with a singular medium. Like, that’s just bone, but look what all they’ve done with it! I mean, they’re probably creepy and not good people. No indication whether the sweaty, bloodied man traipsing through it belongs there or built it, but he seems to be a stranger in a strange land.

As “Boots” kicks into an absolutely furious high gear, we see the most interesting imagery of the trailer. There is some kind of site, maybe a ceremonial or memorial site, perhaps one of religious significance. No indication from the trailer who built it or why it was built, but it’s certified creepsville.

More children, in a call back to the opening moments. This child seems to be chanted for, and in keeping with the theme of the first film, it’s probably the humans who are the real monsters, not the Rage-infected.

Rhetorical question? Or one that the film’s narrative will presumably answer.

This emaciated, rail-thin zombie lifts back up to animation while two presumably-uninfected characters carry on their conversation in the foreground. Something unexpected and surprising — even to the characters in the film — is happening with zombies in this movie, which would presumably be dead or ineffectual from starvation, based on existing canon or lore.

But if they pull it out, they turn to bones.

28 Years Later, in theaters June 2025. For me, a can’t miss. I will be there.

Alt posters for 28 Years Later. Which of the three is your favorite? I don’t care, but I could use the engagement. Comment whatever bullshit you want, frankly. Go nuts. It’s great for me, either way.

K. Cook & Cats corp. (@iamkaymichelle.bsky.social)