A Gripping Return to a World in Ruin

Two decades since they first shocked audiences with 28 Days Later, legendary director Danny Boyle and acclaimed writer Alex Garland are back—and the infection has mutated. 28 Years Later, the chilling third installment of the groundbreaking trilogy, opens in Philippine cinemas this June 18.

Starring a powerhouse cast led by Jodie Comer (Killing Eve), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Bullet Train), Jack O’Connell, Alfie Williams, and the iconic Ralph Fiennes (The Grand Budapest Hotel), the film catapults us into a bleak yet hauntingly familiar future where survival is a psychological war—and the monsters may not all be infected.

Holy Island: A False Sense of Sanctuary

Partially set on Holy Island, a secluded area with a single tidal causeway, the story unfolds in a self-made safe zone—far from the infected mainland. But as always, appearances deceive. “The island and causeway felt like a great starting point for our story,” Boyle elaborates, “because the causeway can be defended when it’s exposed by the tide. A community could thrive. Instead of a post-apocalyptic state, it looks like a town from the turn of the twentieth century. But the mainland then becomes somewhere ‘over there,’ offering both promise and threat.”

This eerie isolation magnifies the tension, letting the story zoom in on character behavior, beliefs, and survival philosophies. “With this kind of film we can explore characters by deciding what rules they’re setting and following. It helps define how they think, what they prioritize, and who they are.”y everything about who they are,” Boyle adds.

Watch the “Imagine” Vignette

Peek behind the scenes with Danny Boyle and Alex Garland:

Humanity Under Siege, Again

For screenwriter Alex Garland, the type of society this infection brought forth feels like an accurate human reaction, mirroring the fact that the plague-ridden Britain is also isolated from the rest of the world. “We considered what the infection would look like,” he remembers. “What happens to the country being quarantined and essentially abandoned by the rest of the world?” 

He draws from the real world to try and answer those questions. “There’s a kind of ruthless, pragmatic, dog-eat-dog dimension to the ways things play out when a nation collapses. Broadly speaking, people not affected by the collapse ignore it and just go about their lives,” he says.

A Perfect Time for Infection

For producer Andrew Macdonald, the timing of 28 Years Later couldn’t be more perfect.  “We wanted to make a film with a unique kind of epic scale. Using 28 Years Later to accomplish that has been very exciting. It felt like the perfect time for us to return to the infected,” he says.

With the rage virus still pulsing through this dystopian vision of the UK, audiences are in for a gripping, emotionally searing ride.

The Infection Returns This June 18

28 Years Later is distributed in the Philippines by Columbia Pictures, the local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

Get ready to confront the rage once more. Tag your reactions with #28YearsLater and follow @columbiapicph for the latest updates.

_{Photo & Video Credit: “Columbia Pictures”}