Let’s Talk About the Ending of ’28 Years Later’

One of the few flaws in Danny Boyle’s new film, 28 Years Later, is that it ends a chapter, not a full story. That’s because this new zombie tale is the first film of a proposed trilogy, one that has its second film coming in January of 2026. With at least one sequel guaranteed, Boyle and his writer, Alex Garland, can safely leave several threads lingering, offering hints of what’s to come. Let’s break it down with full spoilers.

One of the biggest shocks in 28 Years Later is its manic ending. After we watch Spike take the surprise baby back to his home, he goes back to the mainland to live his own life. This, of course, is largely due to a distrust of his father, Jamie, who hit him in the past. All of this feels on brand for the movie, but then Jack O’Connell shows up.

O’Connell, best known from films like Sinners and Unbroken, leads some kind of weird, almost Clockwork Orange group of people dressed in colorful jumpsuits, who proceed to gleefully dispatch a group of zombies who are chasing Spike. Spike welcomes the help but we have to question what the deal is. Especially when it’s revealed that the character’s name is Jimmy. Yes, the same Jimmy from the beginning of the film, whose father was a priest, gave him a special cross, and watched his mother and several childhood friends being eaten alive.

What does that do to a person? And what happened to make that scared, lonely child into this flashy, charismatic presence? We don’t know for certain but there are clues throughout the movie. For example, in the first third of the movie, Spike and Jamie enter a house and see a man hanging by his feet, waiting to be infected. In that man’s chest, though not acknowledged, we can see the letters “I-M-M-Y.” We can’t see the “J,” but we assume it’s there. Jimmy carved his name into this man, for whatever reason. Later, when Spike is traveling with his mom Isla, the name Jimmy is also painted on the side of a shed, like some sort of post-apocalyptic graffiti.

From these clues, we can begin to discern that Jimmy and his group are not nice people. They’re evil, they’re savage, and they are brash. They are certainly not people Spike can trust, though he has to in that moment.

At the end of the film we’re also left wondering what Jamie, feeling so rejected by his son, will do to get him back. Will Jamie go after Spike? Does he even have that ability? And how will the city deal with the fact that an infected man and woman made a child that isn’t infected? That’s the kind of revelation that can’t be ignored. Plus, who does that child grow up to be? Is her DNA from the parents before or after the infection?

There’s also the very important piece of information that the sequel is called “The Bone Temple.” That certainly seems like a reference to Ralph Fiennes’ character, Dr. Kelson, and the structures he’s erected. Is the movie just about him? Is there another temple of bones? How will that tie into the Spike and Jimmy story? We also know that Cillian Murphy’s character Jim, last seen in the original 2002 film, plays a role. How the heck does that work?

Certainly, there’s lots to ponder and, thankfully, we won’t have to wait long to get answers. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, directed by Nia DaCosta, is scheduled for release on January 16, 2026.

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