28 Days Later

2003, Rated R, 113 minutes, Directed by Danny Boyle, Produced by Andrew Macdonald Written by Alex Garland, Cinematography by Anthony Mantle, Original Music by John Murphy

With: Cillian Murphy (Jim), Naomie Harris (Selena), Noah Huntley (Mark), Brendan Gleeson (Frank), Megan Burns (Hannah), Christopher Eccleston (Major Henry West),

What do chimpanzees in cages have to do with anything? A whole lot it turns out. When animal activists break into a lab animal testing compound to free them, they find out they are infected with an ebola like virus that turns those infected into rage filled menaces that attack whatever they can get their hands on. And so the stage is set for Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later, a horror, zombie film with deep emotion and an intimate look at the characters involved.

A man (Cillian Murphy) wakes up in a hospital alone. The entire building is empty; not only that, the entire city of London is deserted. Jim is lost in the solitude of a deserted metropolitan area and wanders aimlessly trying to find people. Eventually he runs into a group of “infected” zombies and is saved by a pair of survivors, one of them being Selena (Naomie Harris). They explain the situation to him and go out in search of other survivors. While there is little hope left of finding life, they do find a father and daughter. Frank (Brendan Gleeson) and Hannah (Megan Burns) join Jim and Selena and together they decide their only hope is to follow the faint signals of a broadcast promises salvation and the answer to the infection if they can reach a blockade outside Manchesterhave the answer to the infection. The band of travelers have a couple run ins with “the infected” along their way but eventually make it to the blockade and find a group of surviving soldiers led by Major Henry West (Christopher Eccleston) who is doing everything he can to keep up the morale of his men. So begins a very surprising Act III that forces the main characters to rise up and take control of their situation when they find themselves pitted against both the infected and the soldiers.

This may seem like the plot of a relatively standard zombie film, but it is much more than that. Danny Boyle said in an interview with res.com “we wanted a horror zombie, but we also wanted it to be more emotional than horror films normally are. We wanted you to genuinely care about these people.” Boyle investigates each main character thoroughly and documents their own story of survival and growth amidst devastation. This character study gives the film greater depth and makes it so much more than a kill all the zombies you can movie. This character development is especially evident in Jim. Jim transforms from passive and scared participant to a pragmatic leader who will do whatever it takes to get the job done. Jim is a benchmark that parallels the progression of the whole story. He ties you to the characters much more and has you pulling for them throughout the story.

The actors had a tough job in this genre bending movie because they had to create a character that you would be emotionally tied to. Without them the movie would have fallen on its face in failure. They do an excellent job and demonstrate great range as they face off against whatever is put in front of them. Cillian Murphy does an excellent job capturing the varying personalities of his character. It was a treat watching him try to wrap his characters’ mind around what is happening around him and you can tell he is very resistant. Murphy also takes that same character at the end and portrays him as a menacing and determined individual who will do whatever it takes to save his friends. Murphy does not get all the credit however. Naomie Harris, only nine months out of drama school exquisitely captures the depth of her character. When we are first introduced to Selena, she is a tough no-nonsense woman who will go to any lengths to survive. She tries very hard, and succeeds at remaining emotionally detached. Underneath this hardened surface, however, she is a deeply caring individual who has had to repress those emotions to stay alive. As the movie progresses and the characters draw closer together, we see Selena open up more and actually care. She owns thepenultimate scene in the hospital  as she shakes with emotion but continues to do what needs to be done. Harris brings the range and depth needed to demonstrate the full complexity of her character. Brendan Gleeson brings his standard burliness but also a touching emotional, humorous and loving side that I have not seen from him before. Megan Burns really captures her character as a teen who is forced to mature well beyond her years. While her words are few, her presence is always known and she adds a hardened innocence to the cast of characters. The actors excel in their tasks of creating characters that make the movie more emotional and give depth beyond your standard zombie flick.

As I was watching the film, I felt like I really was in a totally new age in civilization. Everything, from the London cityscape, to the flowery meadows had an alternate reality feel. I was borderline disappointed with the picture quality from my Blu-Ray movie but then found out that the distortion and saturation was intentional. Boyle filmed the movie digitally so that he could create his own post-apocalyptic world and he succeeded wonderfully. I truly appreciated the difference the digital quality brought when I noticed the difference between the final scene, which was filmed in crisp 35mm format, and the rest of the movie which had a grainier and darker feel. This tone added so much to the overall feel of the film and successfully created a new England.

The digital process, combined with the editing process created an excellent feel when it came to the zombies. Boyle and his editor, Chris Gill, altered the frame rate and compressed moments on the film to create a world where the zombies moved rapidly as they hunted down their prey. This created a wonderfully eery effect whenever the zombies appeared on screen. Boyle said, “the idea is that you can’t quite trust your usual sense of judgement about perception, depth and distance when dealing with the infected.” It gave them a greater sense of power and made it seem even harder to escape them when they attacked.

Boyle preyed upon modern society’s fear of disease to create a compelling post infection world (imdb). He went beyond the typical zombie film and created a movie that was more about the characters and their journey and transformation. Using an alternative filming technique he was able to manipulate the scenic palate and create a world that felt the same but entirely different because of the outbreak. It is an emotional roller coaster of a world watching the characters battle zombies, themselves, and other survivors.

A-

Content Advisory

brief segments of male and female nudity, severe and graphic violence, lots of profanity use, and very adult situations with frightening and intense scenes

Food for thought/discussion

1. What is Selena’s outlook towards the situation? How does that change throughout the movie?

2. How do Frank and Hannah have hope amidst despair? How does the notion of family keep them going?

3. What causes Jim to change from a passive participant to a pragmatic leader?

4. Discuss how the soldiers attempted to cope with the reality of their situation.

Danny Boyle quotes obtained from res.com, RES columns: Q & A, “28 Days Later: An Interview with Danny Boyle” by Sandy Hunter