28 Years Later: The Bone Temple Review – Ralph Fiennes Delivers the Best Zombie Film in Years

I walked into 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple expecting another zombie sequel. What I got was something far more disturbing, more thoughtful, and more brutal than I anticipated. Director Nia DaCosta has crafted a film that doesn’t just continue the franchise—it elevates it. And at the center of everything is Ralph Fiennes delivering a performance that will haunt you long after the credits roll.

The Bone Temple Picks Up Where 28 Years Later Left Off

If you haven’t seen 2025’s “28 Years Later,” stop reading and go watch it first. This film was shot back-to-back with its predecessor and functions as a direct continuation—not a standalone sequel. The story picks up with Spike (Alfie Williams) after being rescued by the Fingers gang, a group of survivors led by the charismatic and deeply disturbing Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell).

The Fingers operate under a twisted philosophy. Every member is renamed some variation of “Jimmy”—Jimmy Ink, Jimmy Shite, Jimmima, Jimmy Fox. It’s a cult of personality built on Satan worship and brutality, with Sir Jimmy claiming to hear Satan’s voice as his son. That level of unhinged worldbuilding sets the tone for what’s to come.

Ralph Fiennes Is the Heart of This Film

Let me be direct: Ralph Fiennes carries this movie on his shoulders, and he makes it look effortless.

As Dr. Ian Kelson, Fiennes plays a man who has built the titular Bone Temple—an ossuary memorial constructed from the skulls of outbreak victims. He’s isolated, methodical, and harboring a secret that could change everything about the infected. His relationship with Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry), an Alpha infected who keeps returning to Kelson’s blowpipe drugs, provides some of the film’s most unexpectedly emotional moments.

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Watching Samson evolve—muttering the word “moon,” clothing himself, eating berries instead of raw meat—gives Kelson hope that the virus might be treatable. It’s a quiet storyline buried inside a blood-soaked horror film, and Fiennes sells every second of it. As Paul Rudd did in Anaconda, Fiennes proves that prestige actors can elevate genre films when they commit fully to the material.

Jack O’Connell’s Sir Jimmy Is Genuinely Terrifying

If Fiennes is the heart, Jack O’Connell is the nightmare fuel in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.

Sir Jimmy Crystal isn’t your typical post-apocalyptic villain. He’s charming when he needs to be, absolutely deranged when the mask slips, and convinced he’s doing Satan’s work. When the Fingers raid a farm, and Sir Jimmy orders survivors skinned alive as sacrifices, the horror feels earned rather than gratuitous.

O’Connell walks a tightrope between charisma and cruelty that keeps you off-balance throughout. You understand why people follow him even as you’re repulsed by what he demands.

Nia DaCosta’s Direction Creates Genuine Dread

The Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus says it perfectly: DaCosta’s direction is “unnerving.” She understands that zombie films live and die by atmosphere, and The Bone Temple drips with it.

The film’s climax—where Kelson impersonates Satan through a pyrotechnic performance of Iron Maiden’s “The Number of the Beast” while exposing the Fingers to hallucinogens—is the kind of gonzo horror filmmaking that rarely makes it to mainstream releases. It’s ambitious, weird, and completely committed to its own insanity.

This is the kind of confident direction that made Sisu: Road to Revenge such a standout—filmmakers who know exactly what movie they’re making and refuse to apologize for it.

The Supporting Cast Delivers

Beyond Fiennes and O’Connell, the ensemble does strong work:

• Alfie Williams as Spike brings vulnerability to a character who could easily have been forgettable
• Erin Kellyman as Jimmy Ink (who reveals her real name is Kelly) provides the moral compass the audience needs
• Emma Laird as Jimmima is genuinely menacing in limited screen time
• Louis Ashbourne Serkis and Mirren Mack as Tom and Cathy deliver an emotionally devastating subplot that ends exactly as brutally as you’d expect

The cast commits to the material with the same intensity as Fiennes, which elevates the entire production.

Where The Bone Temple Ranks in the Franchise

Let me break it down:

1. 28 Days Later (2002) – The original remains untouchable
2. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026) – A worthy continuation that expands the mythology
3. 28 Years Later (2025) – Necessary setup, but incomplete without this sequel
4. 28 Weeks Later (2007) – Solid but lacks the intimacy of the other entries

With a 94% Tomatometer and 90% Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes, critics and audiences agree: The Bone Temple delivers. That’s a rare achievement for a fourth franchise installment.

The Verdict: This Is the Zombie Film Fans Have Been Waiting For

For a horror movie, I was highly entertained from start to finish. The Bone Temple doesn’t reinvent the zombie genre, but it doesn’t need to. It draws on established mythology, adds genuinely interesting ideas about infection and recovery, and wraps it all in a story about cults, redemption, and survival.

If you enjoy zombie films, this is one of the better ones I’ve seen in years. Ralph Fiennes alone is worth the price of admission, but the complete package—DaCosta’s direction, O’Connell’s villain, the Iron Maiden climax—makes this essential viewing for horror fans.

The film ends with Spike and Kelly being observed by Jim and his daughter, Sam, from the original film, clearly setting up the next chapter. A sequel is already in development, and after The Bone Temple, I’ll be first in line.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple Final Rating

★★★★½ out of 5

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple proves that zombie franchises can still surprise us 24 years after the original outbreak. Ralph Fiennes delivers a career-highlight performance, Nia DaCosta’s direction creates genuine dread, and the story takes risks that pay off. This isn’t just a good sequel—it’s a great horror film, period.

More Film Reviews from Johnny North:

• Anaconda (2025) – Paul Rudd & Jack Black Review
• Sisu: Road to Revenge – Finnish Action Masterpiece
• Lunatic: The Luna Vachon Story Review
• Kraven the Hunter Movie Review

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