28 Days Later is a
2002The year 2002 in film involved some significant events. The first significant releases of sequels took place between Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Men in Black II, Analyze That, Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost...
BritishThe United Kingdom has had a large impact on modern cinema and has one the most respected film industries in the world. Despite a history of successful productions, the industry is characterised by an ongoing debate about its identity and the influences of American and European cinema, although it...
post-apocalypticApocalyptic fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction that is concerned with the end of civilization either through nuclear war, plague, or some other general disaster. Post-apocalyptic fiction is set in a world or civilization after such a disaster...
science fiction filmScience fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that aren't necessarily accepted by mainstream science. such as extra-terrestrial life forms, alien worlds, and time travel, often along with technological elements such as futuristic...
directed by
Danny BoyleDanny Boyle is a British filmmaker and producer. He is best known for his work on films such as Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, 28 Days Later and Slumdog Millionaire...
. With a screenplay written by
Alex GarlandAlex Garland is a British novelist and screenwriter.Garland is the son of political cartoonist Nick Garland. He attended the independent University College School, in Hampstead, London, and the University of Manchester, where he studied art history.His first novel, The Beach, was published in...
, the film stars
Cillian MurphyCillian Murphy is an Irish film and theatre actor. He is often noted by critics for his chameleonic performances in diverse rolesand distinctive blue eyes....
,
Naomie HarrisNaomie Melanie Harris is an English screen actress known for her starring role as Selena in 28 Days Later and her supporting turn as Tia Dalma in the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean movies.-Personal life:...
,
Brendan GleesonBrendan Gleeson is an Irish character actor. His best-known films include the Harry Potter films, Kingdom of Heaven, Beowulf, Troy, Gangs of New York, 28 Days Later, In Bruges, Braveheart, The General, Lake Placid, and the role of Michael Collins in The Treaty.-Early life:Gleeson was born in...
,
Noah HuntleyNoah Cornelius Marmaduke Huntley is an English actor. He was educated at Leighton Park School in Berkshire. His roles include the Burning Man from Event Horizon. He also had a minor role in the 2002 feature film 28 Days Later...
and
Christopher EcclestonChristopher Eccleston is an English stage, film and television actor. His films include Shallow Grave, Elizabeth, 28 Days Later, Gone in 60 Seconds and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra...
. The plot depicts the breakdown of society following the accidental release of a highly contagious
virusA virus is an infectious agent too small to be seen directly with a light microscope. They are not made of cells and can only replicate inside the cells of another organism . Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea...
and focuses upon the struggle of four survivors to cope with the ruination of the life they once knew.
A critical and commercial success, the film is widely recognized for images of a deserted London, and was shot almost entirely on
digital videoDigital video is a type of video recording system that works by using a digital rather than an analog video signal.The terms camera, video camera, and camcorder are used interchangeably in this article.- History :...
. The film spawned a 2007 sequel,
28 Weeks Later28 Weeks Later is a 2007 British post-apocalyptic horror film, and sequel to the 2002 film 28 Days Later. The film was directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, and was released in the United Kingdom and in the United States on 11 May 2007...
and the graphic novel
28 Days Later: The Aftermath28 Days Later: The Aftermath is a graphic novel continuation of the hit film 28 Days Later written by Steve Niles and distributed by Fox Atomic Comics. It was released on April 3, 2007....
.
Plot
Late one night,
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
animal rights activists break into the Cambridge Primate Research Facility to free
chimpanzeeChimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
s being used for medical research. The local scientist warns the activists that the chimps are infected with something he only calls "Rage", but the activists disregard him and set a chimp free. It immediately attacks and infects the activists and scientist.
Twenty-eight days later, a bicycle courier named Jim (
Cillian MurphyCillian Murphy is an Irish film and theatre actor. He is often noted by critics for his chameleonic performances in diverse rolesand distinctive blue eyes....
) awakens from a
comaIn medicine, a coma is a profound state of unconsciousness. A comatose person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to pain or light, does not have sleep-wake cycles, and does not take voluntary actions....
in the deserted
St Thomas' HospitalSt Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS hospital in London, England. It is administratively a part of Guy’s & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. It has provided health care freely or under charitable auspices since the 12th century and was originally located in Southwark.St Thomas' Hospital is accessible...
. As he leaves the hospital, he discovers
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
is completely deserted and rife with signs of catastrophe. Jim is soon discovered and chased through the streets by infected people before being rescued by two survivors, Selena (
Naomie HarrisNaomie Melanie Harris is an English screen actress known for her starring role as Selena in 28 Days Later and her supporting turn as Tia Dalma in the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean movies.-Personal life:...
) and Mark (
Noah HuntleyNoah Cornelius Marmaduke Huntley is an English actor. He was educated at Leighton Park School in Berkshire. His roles include the Burning Man from Event Horizon. He also had a minor role in the 2002 feature film 28 Days Later...
), who rush him to their hideout in the
London UndergroundThe London Underground, Underground or Tube is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and neighbouring areas of Essex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire in the UK. The first section opened in 1863, and was the first underground railway system in the world, and, starting in...
. They reveal that while Jim was comatose, the virus spread uncontrollably among the populace, turning most people into mindless, vicious creatures ("the Infected") and resulting in societal collapse, possibly on a global scale.
Selena and Mark accompany Jim to his parents' house, where he discovers that they committed
suicideSuicide is the intentional killing of one's self. Many dictionaries also note the metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest"...
. That night, two of the Infected attack the survivors, and when the fight ends they discover that Mark is bleeding and is likely infected. Selena immediately kills him with a machete, explaining to Jim that the infection is spread through the blood and overwhelms its victims in seconds, rendering them deadly to others. She warns that should he become infected, she will kill him "in a heartbeat". As the two journey through the derelict city the next day, Selena rules out intimacy between her and Jim, declaring that only the fight for survival remains. They discover two more survivors, Frank (
Brendan GleesonBrendan Gleeson is an Irish character actor. His best-known films include the Harry Potter films, Kingdom of Heaven, Beowulf, Troy, Gangs of New York, 28 Days Later, In Bruges, Braveheart, The General, Lake Placid, and the role of Michael Collins in The Treaty.-Early life:Gleeson was born in...
) and his teenage daughter Hannah (
Megan BurnsMegan Burns , also known as Betty Curse, is a British musician and award-winning actress.-Early life and acting career:...
), holed up in an abandoned block of flats. Invited to spend the night, Selena and Jim privately debate whether they should remain with Frank and Hannah. Jim says they seem like good people, while Selena fears they will slow her down, warning Jim that putting others ahead of one's own personal survival is a sure way to get killed.
The next morning, Frank informs Jim and Selena that supplies, particularly water, are dwindling, and plays them a prerecorded radio broadcast loop transmitted by soldiers near
ManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. In 2007, the population of the city was estimated to be 458,100...
who claim to have "the answer to infection". The survivors board Frank's cab in search of the blockade and during the trip bond with one another. Selena's steely resolve begins to soften, while Jim's experiences on the trip begin to toughen him up. When the four reach the deserted blockade, Frank is infected by blood dripping from a corpse and is shot dead by hidden soldiers, who then commandeer the cab and took Selena, Jim and Hannah to a fortified mansion under the command of Major Henry West (
Christopher EcclestonChristopher Eccleston is an English stage, film and television actor. His films include Shallow Grave, Elizabeth, 28 Days Later, Gone in 60 Seconds and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra...
). As Hannah grieves, Selena and Jim reach out to each other romantically. Jim discovers that West's "answer to infection" involves waiting for the Infected to starve to death, while giving hope for community survival by forcing
sexual servitudeSexual slavery is the organized coercion of unwilling people into different sexual practices. Sexual slavery may include single-owner sexual slavery, ritual slavery sometimes associated with traditional religious practices, slavery for primarily non-sexual purposes where sex is common, or forced...
on the female survivors. Jim attempts to escape with Selena and Hannah, but is captured by the soldiers, along with Sergeant Farrell (
Stuart McQuarrieStuart McQuarrie is an actor who has starred in multiple acclaimed films, including Trainspotting and 28 Days Later. In 2008, McQuarrie starred in the film Ecstasy based on The Undefeated from Irvine Welsh's best-selling novel Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance...
), who disagrees with the Major's plan. While Jim and Farrell are imprisoned for the night, Farrell informs Jim that there is no worldwide epidemic, but rather that the island of Great Britain has been
quarantineQuarantine is voluntary or compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease...
d.
The next day, as two soldiers lead the prisoners into the woods to be executed, Selena and Hannah are trapped as the soldiers circle, set to
rapeRape, also referred to as sexual assault, is an assault by a person involving sexual intercourse with or without sexual penetration of another person without that person's consent....
them both. While the two executioners fight about whether to kill the prisoners by stabbing or (more humanely) shooting, Jim escapes over a wall. Later, Jim observes the trail of a jet aircraft flying high overhead and realizes that someone in the outside world is still functioning. After luring West and one of his men to the blockade, Jim runs back to the soldiers' headquarters where he unleashes Mailer, an infected soldier that West kept chained outside for observation. Mailer attacks the soldiers in the mansion, while Jim sneaks around, killing a soldier and manoeuvring around the growing number of Infected. Selena, held hostage by the last uninfected soldier, the cruel Corporal Mitchell (
Ricci HarnettRicci Harnett is a British actor, best known for his role as Carlton Leach in the film Rise of the Footsoldier. He debuted in 1991 in The Object of Beauty alongside John Malkovich...
), is horrified when Jim, covered in blood, bursts into the room and savagely kills the soldier, leading her to believe that he may be infected. Raising her machete, she hesitates before striking; he quips, "That was longer than a heartbeat," and the two kiss passionately. Hannah finds them and mistakenly thinks that Jim is one of the infected, striking him over the head with a vase. After realizing her mistake and establishing that Jim is, indeed not one of the infected, the trio run to Frank's cab, only to encounter West, who shoots Jim in the stomach. Hannah commandeers the cab, backs it up to the front door, delivering West to the infected Mailer. She then drives away with Jim and Selena.
Selena and Hannah rush Jim into a deserted hospital, where Selena performs life-saving emergency procedures. Twenty-eight days later, Jim is shown waking up in recovery again, this time on one side of a double bed in a remote cottage. Downstairs, he finds Selena sewing large swaths of fabric when Hannah appears. The three rush outside and unfurl a huge cloth banner, adding the final letter to the word "HELLO" laid out on the meadow. As a military jet flies over the landscape, the Infected are shown lying by the road, dying of starvation. After the jet zooms past the three waving survivors and their distress sign, Selena wonders rhetorically, "Do you think he saw us this time?"
Alternative endings
The DVD extras include three alternative endings, all of which end with Jim dying. Two were filmed, while the third, a more radical departure, was only storyboarded. On 25 July 2003, cinemas started showing the alternate ending at the end of the film.
Jim dies at the hospital
In this ending, after Jim is shot, Selena and Hannah still rush him to the deserted hospital, but the scene is extended. Selena, with Hannah's assistance, attempts to perform life-saving procedures but cannot revive Jim. Selena is heartbroken, and Hannah, distraught, looks to her for guidance. Selena tells Hannah that they will go on; they pick up their guns and walk away from Jim's lifeless body. Selena and Hannah, fully armed, walk through the operating room doors, which gradually stop swinging.
On the DVD commentary, Boyle and Garland explain that this was the original ending of the film's first cut, which was tested with preview audiences. It was ultimately rejected for seeming too bleak; the final exit from the hospital was intended to imply Selena and Hannah's survival, whereas test audiences felt that the women were marching off to certain death. Boyle and Garland express a preference for this alternate ending, calling it the "true ending". They comment that this ending brought Jim full circle, as he starts and finishes the story in bed in a deserted hospital.
This ending was added in the theatrical release of the film beginning on 25 July 2003, placed after the credits and prefaced with the words "what if..."
Rescue coda without Jim
This ending, for which only a rough edit was completed, is an alternate version of the potential rescue sequence shown at the very end of the released film. Here, the scenes are identical, except that this ending was intended to be placed after the first alternative ending where Jim dies, so he is absent. When Selena is sewing one of the banner letters in the cottage, she is seen facetiously talking to a chicken instead of Jim. Only Selena and Hannah are seen waving to the jet flying overhead in the final shots.
"Radical Alternative Ending"
The "Radical Alternative Ending" was not filmed and is presented on the DVD as a series of illustrated storyboards with
voiceoverVoiceOver is a screen reader built into Apple Inc.'s Mac OS X operating system since version 10.4. By using VoiceOver, the user can access his or her Macintosh by using speech and the keyboard. The feature is designed to increase accessibility blind and low-vision users and users with dyslexia...
s by Boyle and Garland. This ending would have taken the story in a radically different direction from the film's midpoint. When Frank is infected at the military blockade near Manchester, the soldiers do not enter the story. Instead, Jim, Selena and Hannah are somehow able to restrain the infected Frank, hoping they will find a cure for the virus nearby as suggested in the radio broadcast. They soon discover that the blockade had protected a large medical research complex, the same one featured in the first scene of the film where the virus was developed.
Inside, the party is relieved to find a scientist self-barricaded inside a room with food and water. He won't open the door because he fears they will take his food, although he does admit that the "answer to infection is here". Unfortunately, he refuses to talk further because he does not want to make an emotional attachment to people who will soon be dead. After hours of failed attempts to break through the door or coax the man out, Jim eventually brings Hannah to the door and explains Frank's situation. The scientist reluctantly tells them that Frank can only be cured with a complete blood transfusion, and supplies them with the necessary equipment. After learning that he is the only match with Frank's blood type, Jim nobly sacrifices himself so that Frank can survive with his daughter. Just as his journey began, Jim is left alone in the abandoned medical facility, and Selena, Hannah and Frank move into the room with the scientist as a horde of the infected breach the complex. Strapped to the same table as the chimp had been in the opening scene, the computer monitors showing death and destruction come to life around a thrashing, infected Jim.
Garland and Boyle explain that they conceptualized this ending to see what the film would be like if they did not expand the focus beyond the core four survivors. They ultimately decided against it because the idea of a total blood replacement as a cure was not credible. As Boyle said in the DVD commentary, it "didn't make much sense" since the film had already established that one drop of blood can infect a person. "What would we do? Drain him of blood and scrub his veins with bleach?"
Cast
On the DVD, director Boyle explains that, with the aim of preserving the suspension of disbelief, relatively unknown actors were cast in the film. Cillian Murphy had at the time starred primarily in small independent films, while Naomie Harris had acted on British television as a child. However, actors Christopher Eccleston and Brendan Gleeson were well-known character actors. Eccleston, who went on to greater fame for his portrayal of the
Ninth DoctorThe Ninth Doctor is the ninth official incarnation of the fictional character known as the Doctor, in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who....
in the 2005 series of
Doctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a mysterious alien time-traveller known as "the Doctor" who travels in his space and time-ship, the TARDIS, which normally appears from the exterior to be a blue 1950s police box...
, had already appeared in films such as
The Others,
Gone in 60 SecondsGone in 60 Seconds is a action film, starring Nicolas Cage, Giovanni Ribisi, Christopher Eccleston, Robert Duvall, Will Patton and Angelina Jolie. The film was directed by Dominic Sena, and written by Scott Rosenberg. It was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, producer of The Rock, and Armageddon, and...
,
eXistenZeXistenZ is a 1999 psychological thriller/science fiction film by Canadian director David Cronenberg. It stars Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jude Law....
and
Shallow GraveShallow Grave is a 1994 British crime thriller film that marks the directorial debut of Danny Boyle with an original screenplay by John Hodge....
(another film directed by Boyle). Likewise, Gleeson had appeared in several films, including
BraveheartBraveheart is a 1995 Academy-award winning historical action-drama film produced and directed by Mel Gibson, who also starred in the title role. The film was written for screen and then novelized by Randall Wallace...
,
Lake PlacidLake Placid is a 1999 American/Canadian monster movie with elements of comedy, horror, romance and the buddy genre. It was written and produced by David E. Kelley, directed by Steve Miner, and stars Bill Pullman, Bridget Fonda, Brendan Gleeson, Oliver Platt, and Betty White...
,
The GeneralThe General is a true film about Dublin criminal Martin Cahill, who pulled off several daring heists in the early 1980s, and attracted attention from the Garda, IRA, and UVF. The film was directed by John Boorman, filmed in 1997 and released in 1998...
and eventually, the
Harry PotterHarry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter, together with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, his friends from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
series.
| Actor | Role |
|---|
Cillian MurphyCillian Murphy is an Irish film and theatre actor. He is often noted by critics for his chameleonic performances in diverse rolesand distinctive blue eyes....
|
Jim |
Naomie HarrisNaomie Melanie Harris is an English screen actress known for her starring role as Selena in 28 Days Later and her supporting turn as Tia Dalma in the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean movies.-Personal life:...
|
Selena |
| Brendan Gleeson Brendan Gleeson is an Irish character actor. His best-known films include the Harry Potter films, Kingdom of Heaven, Beowulf, Troy, Gangs of New York, 28 Days Later, In Bruges, Braveheart, The General, Lake Placid, and the role of Michael Collins in The Treaty.-Early life:Gleeson was born in...
|
Frank |
| Megan Burns Megan Burns , also known as Betty Curse, is a British musician and award-winning actress.-Early life and acting career:...
|
Hannah |
| Christopher Eccleston Christopher Eccleston is an English stage, film and television actor. His films include Shallow Grave, Elizabeth, 28 Days Later, Gone in 60 Seconds and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra...
|
Major Henry West |
| Noah Huntley Noah Cornelius Marmaduke Huntley is an English actor. He was educated at Leighton Park School in Berkshire. His roles include the Burning Man from Event Horizon. He also had a minor role in the 2002 feature film 28 Days Later...
|
Mark |
| Stuart McQuarrie Stuart McQuarrie is an actor who has starred in multiple acclaimed films, including Trainspotting and 28 Days Later. In 2008, McQuarrie starred in the film Ecstasy based on The Undefeated from Irvine Welsh's best-selling novel Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance...
|
Sergeant Farrell |
| Ricci Harnett Ricci Harnett is a British actor, best known for his role as Carlton Leach in the film Rise of the Footsoldier. He debuted in 1991 in The Object of Beauty alongside John Malkovich...
|
Corporal Mitchell |
| Luke Mably -Filmography:*Maggie Hill as Ben Emerson*Exam as White*Star Crossed as Alex Pierce*Who Gets the Dog as Hugo Delaney-Jones*Save Angel Hope as Henry*Kingdom as Mark Larsen...
|
Private Clifton |
| Leo Bill |
Private Jones |
| Junior Laniyan |
Private Bell |
| Ray Panthaki Ray Panthaki is a British-born actor and film producer.Born in London, Panthaki is best known for the roles he played on BBC soap opera EastEnders as Ronny Ferreira and as 'Hassan B' the nemesis to Sacha Baron Cohen's Ali G in Ali G Indahouse...
|
Private Bedford |
| Sanjay Rambaruth |
Private Davis |
Production
28 Days Later features scenes set in normally bustling parts of London such as
Westminster BridgeWestminster Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames between Westminster, Middlesex bank, and Lambeth, Surrey bank in what is now Greater London, England.-History:...
,
Piccadilly CircusPiccadilly Circus is a famous road junction and public space of London's West End in the City of Westminster,built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with the major shopping street of Piccadilly...
,
Horse Guards ParadeHorse Guards Parade is a large parade ground off Whitehall in central London, at grid reference . It was formerly the site of the Palace of Whitehall's tiltyard, where tournaments were held in the time of Henry VIII...
and
Oxford StreetOxford Street is a major thoroughfare in London, England in the City of Westminster. With over 300 shops, it is Europe's busiest shopping street, as well as the most dense. The street derives its name from being part of the old London—Oxford Road which began at Newgate, City of London...
. In order to depict these locations as desolate, the film crew closed off sections of street for minutes at a time, usually in early morning to minimize disruption. Portions of the film were shot on a Canon XL1
digital videoDigital video is a type of video recording system that works by using a digital rather than an analog video signal.The terms camera, video camera, and camcorder are used interchangeably in this article.- History :...
camera. DV cameras are much smaller and more manoeuvrable than traditional film cameras, which would have been impractical on such brief shoots.
The scenes of the
M1 motorwayThe M1 is a major north–south motorway in England primarily connecting London to Leeds, where it joins the A1 near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom, the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the...
completely devoid of traffic were also filmed within very limited time periods. A mobile police roadblock slowed traffic sufficiently to leave a long section of carriageway empty while the scene was filmed. The section depicted in the film was actually located at
Milton KeynesMilton Keynes , often abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is also the principal town of the Borough of Milton Keynes. It was formally designated as a new town on 23 January 1967...
, nowhere near Manchester. For the London scene where Jim walks by the overturned double-decker bus, the film crew placed the bus on its side and removed it when the shot was finished, all within 20 minutes.
Much of the filming took place prior to the
September 11, 2001 attacksThe September 11 attacks were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by Al-Qaeda upon the United States on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners...
, and in the audio commentary Boyle notes the parallel between the "missing persons" flyers seen at the beginning of the film and similar flyers posted in New York City in the wake of 9/11. Boyle adds that his crew probably would not have been granted permission to close off
WhitehallWhitehall is a road in Westminster in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards traditional Charing Cross, now at the southern end of Trafalgar Square and marked by the statue of Charles I, which is often regarded as the heart of London...
for filming after the terrorist attacks in New York.
While travelling around London at the beginning of the film, Jim picks up a copy of the
Evening StandardThe London Evening Standard is a free local daily newspaper, published in tabloid format in London, England. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the southeast of England, with coverage of national and international news and a strong emphasis on City of London finance...
. The front page created by the film makers carries a single
headlineA headline is text at the top of a newspaper article, indicating the nature of the article below it.It is sometimes termed a news hed, a deliberate misspelling that dates from production flow during hot type days, to notify the composing room that a written note from an editor concerned a headline...
printed in large font: "EVACUATION", with the sub-heading "Mass exodus of British people causes global chaos." Above the main headline, there are three small subheadings with page numbers- "Who will stop them?", "Refugee Crisis Looms" and "Dangerous Animals". Below the headline, the front page contains a list of London's boroughs with evacuation information on the left side with the main body containing the following smaller headlines, in order:
- "Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
declares a state of emergency"
- "Military ordered 'shoot to kill'"
- "Government Check points overrun"
- "UN
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace...
to build giant refugee camps"
- "Chaos at all London airports"
- "Government call for calm"
- "Military patrol waters around Britain"
- "All roads around London grid-locked"
- "Food supplies run out as shops close"
- "Power cuts hit Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
"
The mansion used in the film was
Trafalgar ParkTrafalgar House, also known as Trafalgar Park, is a country house in Wiltshire, England associated with the family of Admiral Lord Nelson, victor of the Battle of Trafalgar....
near
SalisburySalisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England. It has also been called New Sarum to distinguish it from the original site of settlement to the north of the city at Old Sarum, but this alternative name is not in common use. Similarly, a native of Salisbury may be known as a "Sarumite", but...
. Many rooms in the house, including the
CiprianiGiovanni Battista Cipriani , Italian painter and engraver, Pistoiese by descent, was born in Florence.-History:His first lessons were given him by a Florentine of English descent, Ignatius Hugford, and then under Anton Domenico Gabbiani...
-painted music room and the main hall, were filmed with minimal set decoration. The scenes occurring upstairs were actually filmed downstairs, as the mansion's owner resided upstairs.
One month before the film was released in cinemas, various newspapers included a short panel
comic bookA comic book is a magazine made up of narrative artwork, often accompanied by dialog and often including brief descriptive prose...
style promotion for the film, in which various scenes showed a chaotic London during those 27 days with people trying to escape the city en masse.
Style and inspiration
On the DVD commentary, Boyle and Garland frequently call it a post apocalyptic and
horrorHorror films are movies that strive to elicit the emotions of fear, horror and terror from viewers. Their plots frequently involve themes of death, the supernatural or mental illness...
film, commenting on scenes that were specific references to
George A. RomeroGeorge Andrew Romero is an American film director, screenwriter, editor and occasional actor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed Grandfather of the Zombie....
's original Dead trilogy. However, during the initial marketing of the film Boyle did try to distance the film from such labels. Boyle identified John Wyndham's
The Day of the TriffidsThe Day of the Triffids is a post-apocalyptic novel written in 1951 by the English science fiction author John Wyndham. Although Wyndham had already published other novels, this was the first published under the John Wyndham pen-name...
as Garland's original inspiration for the story. Danny Boyle says that the film is not a science fiction horror film but rather a drama in that environment.
Reception
The film was a considerable success at the box office and became highly profitable on a budget of about £5 million (
$The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents .The U.S...
9.8 million). In the UK, it took in £6.1 million ($11.89 million), while in the U.S. it became a surprise hit, taking over $45 million despite a limited release at fewer than 1,500 screens across the country. The film garnered around $82.7 million worldwide.
Critical views of the film were very positive; the review site
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films. The name derives from the historical cliché of throwing tomatoes and other produce at stage performers if a performance was particularly bad.- History :...
rates it 88%. The
L.A. Times described it as a "stylistic tour de force", and efilmcritic.com called it "raw, blistering and joyously uncompromising". On Metacritic it received a 73 (out of 100) based on 39 reviews.
Bravo awarded it the 100th spot on their "The 100 Scariest Movie Moments". In 2007,
Stylus MagazineStylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
named it the second best
zombieA zombie is a creature that appears in folklore and popular culture typically as a reanimated corpse or a mindless human being. Stories of zombies originated in the Afro-Caribbean spiritual belief system of Vodou, which told of the people being controlled as laborers by a powerful sorcerer...
movie of all time. The film also ranked at number 456 in Empire magazine's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time.
Awards
- Best Horror Film (U.S. Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films — Saturn Award)
- Best Breakthrough Performance Naomie Harris (Black Reel)
- Best British Film (Empire Award)
- Best Cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (European Film Award)
- Danny Boyle (Grand Prize of European Fantasy Film in Silver)
- Best Director Danny Boyle (International Fantasy Film Award)
- Best International Film Danny Boyle (Narcisse Award)
Soundtrack and score
The film's score was composed by
John MurphyJohn Murphy is an English film composer. He is a self taught multi-instrumental musician who began his career in the 1980s working notably with The Lotus Eaters, Thomas Lang and Claudia Brücken....
and was released in a score/song compilation in 2003. A heavily edited version of the song "
East Hastings"East Hastings" is an instrumental track by Godspeed You! Black Emperor on F♯A♯∞ released on June 9, 1998.It is 18 minutes long and comprises four distinct movements, each individually named. They are "'...Nothing's Alrite in Our Life...' / Dead Flag Blues ", "The Sad Mafioso...", "Drugs in...
" by the post-rock band
Godspeed You! Black EmperorGodspeed You! Black Emperor are a Canadian post-rock band which originated from Montreal, Quebec in 1994...
appears in the film, but the track is excluded from the soundtrack, because Boyle only obtained the rights to use it in the film.
28 Days Later: The Soundtrack Album was released on June 17 2003. It features most of John Murphy's original score and tracks from
Brian EnoBrian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as simply Brian Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, music theorist and singer, who, as a solo artist, is best known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at art school, taking...
,
GrandaddyGrandaddy was an indie rock group from Modesto, California, United States.- Biography :Grandaddy was formed in 1992 by singer/guitarist/keyboardist Jason Lytle, bassist Kevin Garcia, and drummer Aaron Burtch...
and
Blue StatesBlue States are an electronica band headed up by Andy Dragazis. The band has been active since 1997 and is still producing music out of London, England. There have been five albums to date, the latest 'Sum of the Parts' in 2009...
.
Death metal band
The RottedThe Rotted are an English death metal band formed in England in early 2008.-History:The band was originally known as Gorerotted but split up and changed their name in 2008 due to musical and lyrical progression: the band themselves say that The Rotted and Gorerotted are two entirely different bands...
(previously known as
GorerottedGorerotted was a British death metal band formed in 1997 which split up in January 2008 and reformed with new members as The Rotted. Gorerotted's lyrics and song titles were largely inspired by horror films, and dealt with subjects such as death, mutilation, necrophilia, while later work is based...
) included the title track "28 Days Later" on their album
Get Dead or Die TryingGet Dead or Die Trying is the debut studio album by British death metal band The Rotted . The album's title is a parody of American rapper 50 Cent's debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin'.-Track listing:...
, released in 2008.
Sequels
A sequel,
28 Weeks Later28 Weeks Later is a 2007 British post-apocalyptic horror film, and sequel to the 2002 film 28 Days Later. The film was directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, and was released in the United Kingdom and in the United States on 11 May 2007...
, was released on May 11 2007.
Danny BoyleDanny Boyle is a British filmmaker and producer. He is best known for his work on films such as Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, 28 Days Later and Slumdog Millionaire...
and
Alex GarlandAlex Garland is a British novelist and screenwriter.Garland is the son of political cartoonist Nick Garland. He attended the independent University College School, in Hampstead, London, and the University of Manchester, where he studied art history.His first novel, The Beach, was published in...
took producing roles alongside
Andrew MacdonaldAndrew MacDonald was also a pen name used by William Luther Pierce.Andrew Macdonald is a Scottish film producer, best known for his collaborations with screenwriter John Hodge and director Danny Boyle, including Shallow Grave , Trainspotting and A Life Less Ordinary .Together with Duncan...
. The plot revolves around the arrival of American troops about seven months after the incidents in the original film, attempting to revitalise a nearly desolate
BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
. The cast for this sequel includes
Robert CarlyleRobert Carlyle, OBE is a Scottish film and television actor.-Early life:Carlyle was born in Maryhill, Glasgow, the son of Elizabeth, a bus company employee, and Joseph Carlyle, a painter and decorator. He was raised by his father after his mother left when Carlyle was four years old...
,
Rose ByrneMary Rose Byrne , best known as Rose Byrne, is an Australian actress. She has appeared in a number of feature films, including 28 Weeks Later, Troy, Sunshine, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, and Knowing, but is probably best-known for her ongoing role of Ellen Parsons in the US TV...
,
Jeremy RennerJeremy Lee Renner is an American actor and musician.Renner was born in Modesto, California. The eldest of four children, Renner has two sisters and one brother....
, Harold Perrineau,
Catherine McCormackCatherine McCormack is an Olivier Award-nominated English actress, known for her stage acting as well as her screen performances in films such as Braveheart, Spy Game and Dangerous Beauty.-Early life:...
, Amanda Walker and
Idris ElbaIdris Akuna Elba is a British television, theatre, and film actor who has starred in both British and American productions. Idris Elba grew up in Hackney, East London. One of his first acting roles was in the soap opera Family Affairs. He has worked in a variety of TV roles including Ultraviolet...
.
Fox Atomic ComicsFox Atomic Comics was formed in late 2006 as the graphic novel publishing arm of Fox Atomic. In partnership with publisher HarperCollins, Fox Atomic Comics produced and distributed graphic novels tied to Fox Atomic theatrical releases as well as original content.The editor-in-chief of Fox Atomic...
, in association with
HarperCollinsHarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company. The worldwide CEO of HarperCollins is Brian Murray...
, has published a
graphic novelA graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using the comics form. The term is employed in a broad manner, encompassing non-fiction works and thematically linked short stories as well as fictional stories across a number of genres.Graphic novels are typically...
bridging the time gap between
28 Days Later and
28 Weeks Later, entitled
28 Days Later: The Aftermath28 Days Later: The Aftermath is a graphic novel continuation of the hit film 28 Days Later written by Steve Niles and distributed by Fox Atomic Comics. It was released on April 3, 2007....
, written by
Steve NilesSteve Niles is an American comic book author and novelist.He is credited among other contemporary writers as bringing horror comics back to prominence, authoring such works as 30 Days of Night, its sequel, Dark Days , and Criminal Macabre with frequent artist collaborator Ben...
.
In March 2007,
28 Days Later director and
28 Weeks Later executive producer Danny Boyle was interviewed by an Irish radio station, where he claimed to be interested in making a third film in the series,
28 Months Later.
External links