28 Years Later is the long-awaited sequel to the “zombie” movie 28 Days Later. The latter premiered over 20 years ago, and now the infected world is back. The new movie sees the original director, Danny Boyle, and the original writer, Alex Garland, team up again. The movie is categorized as horror, but some viewers felt the sequel was more emotional and even brought them to tears. 

The more emotional aspects of the movie were kept out of the promotional material, but the director reminded viewers that the original had emotional themes as well. Danny Boyle told Variety, “The first film was actually very moving, too…so [hiding the film’s tearjerker story] is born out of the right instincts. They’re just a bit worried [about selling it on that]…” The movie was sold as a horror movie, which it is, but it also takes the horror circumstances to tell a gut wrenching story about survival and loss. 

The Sony Pictures website gives an overview of the movie, stating, “It’s been almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory, and now, still in a ruthlessly enforced quarantine, some have found ways to exist amidst the infected. One such group of survivors lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily-defended causeway. When one of the groups leaves the island on a mission into the dark heart of the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors as well.” The movie is described with a lot of horror and little emotion. 

The promotional material worked, as the movie debuted with $30 million at the domestic box office. Another sequel is on the way, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, is premiering in theaters in January of 2026.