If there’s one thing I truly admire about 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, it’s how deftly it maneuvers itself out of the mires that blemished the previous film. It continues the story director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland set up in 28 Years Later, but manages to bypass all of its weaknesses. It remedies all the ailments of the 2025 reboot, and it’s safe to say director Nia DaCosta is the one delivering the cure.

Director Nia DaCosta Gets Us Back on Course

Instead of the overly stylized editing and camerawork Boyle indulged in, we get a film that is clean and sharp without sacrificing the chaotic nature of the conflicts at hand. Instead of spreading its narrative and thematic butter too thin by hitting on many different ideas, The Bone Temple focuses in and focuses hard on what it’s trying to say about its characters. And most surprisingly of all, it manages to strike a near perfect balance of dark humor and genuinely disturbing sights to create a film that is every bit as fun as it is bleak and brutal.

Spike’s Journey Continues– While Dr. Ian Kelson’s Begins

As Spike’s journey in a post-apocalyptic Great Britain continues, he finds himself in dangerous company: The Fingers, a childish and ultraviolent band of tracksuit wearing survivors all named Jimmy. They’re guided by their demented priest and gang leader Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal, a demanding monster that consumes everything in his path to fulfill his dark and bizarre sacraments.

As he’s inducted into the gang in a brutal fashion, things go from bad to worse as Spike tries to escape them. But elsewhere something even stranger than the Fingers’ way of life begins to unfold, as Dr. Ian Kelson’s run-ins with the infected alpha Samson bear bizarre new fruit.

Jack O’Connell Reminds Us of What Made 28 Days Later So Good

Those expecting the violent infected roaming the woods to take center stage again will likely be disappointed, as their threatening presence from the first film has been usurped by our new underhanded antagonist Jimmy Crystal. Portrayed by Jack O’Connell, hot off the heels of his explosive performance in Sinners, he proves to us time and again that there are in fact worse fates than infection and death out in the wastelands of the United Kingdom. He is without a doubt the best part of the film, primarily for what he achieves in refocusing on the ethos of the series. The sheer human horror that made 28 Days Later so compelling is revitalized here, with O’Connell taking on the same kind of dire threat that Christopher Eccleston did as Major West in the very first film.

I would dare to say the character might be even more effective than Major West in how masterfully his writing tells us who he is, and how the character reflects Spike’s own growth. Jimmy Crystal is an ignoble lord, an ersatz early 2000s Jimmy Savile with all the uncomfortable meta-commentary underpinnings that implies; he is a predator, just a predator of a different kind. He is through and through, a fun to watch monstrosity; not charismatic per se, but very, very entertaining. O’Connell plays the immature, rotten-toothed psychotic like a worn, familiar instrument, and is able to generate a lot of discomfort and disquiet with how he plays him.

Ralph Fiennes and Chi Lewis-Parry Are Unrivaled

The other star player is, unsurprisingly, Ralph Fiennes as Dr. Ian Kelson. Though he doesn’t have as expansive an arc as Spike did previously, we get to spend time watching the character soul search for something in himself and in his new companion, the now somewhat docile Samson (played once again by the absolute mountain of a man that is Chi Lewis-Parry). It’s the emotional ballast that keeps the darker half of this film afloat, and a perfectly complementing light to Spike and the Fingers dark plotline.

Credit where it’s due to Lewis-Parry in particular as well, whose physical control and facial acting as Samson was genuinely impressive; this time around, it’s certainly more demanding and asks for more nuance than the monster role it started as, which he achieves. The odd relationship the two characters foster in this film is a delight that’s only matched by Kelson eventually running afoul of Jimmy Crystal, and where it goes from there is a far cry from what I expected.

A Taste of the Terrifying Trilogy Closer Yet to Come

Though the A and B plots of the film have a heavy delineation in tone and in story, the way they intertwine is more elegant than I anticipated, and much more fun than I would have ever bet. It takes until late in the second act to see what picture is being pieced together exactly, but the crash of a climax it provides results in a rollicking good time that merges the disparate halves.

Many will see the midpoint of this trilogy-to-be, and expect its over reliance on what came before or needless burden setting up the forthcoming third film. But 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is far from beholden to its place in the series. It is purely a good movie, and it stands on its own as one. There’s a genuine cohesion here, and an unpredictable x-factor in the radical departure from the family focused plotline of the previous film.

A Confident Middle Chapter That Stands on Its Own

Where 28 Years Later was a post-apocalyptic coming of age, The Bone Temple is a dark fairytale about characters on a disastrous journey for one thing: control in a lost, uncontrollable world. It’s a fine study of characters locked in a scramble to stay on top, and how they interact with characters scrambling to retain their humanity. What results is a sequel that isn’t just better than what came before it, but one that will ignite audiences with excitement for the final installment that’s yet to come.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple releases in movie theaters on January 16th, 2026

It’s always been hard to admit, but I’ve never been the biggest Tim Burton fan. His movies have been genre-defining moments, and yet I’ve just always felt lukewarm about him and his films. Maybe a part of it could be attributed to growing up in the Burtonesque Hot Topic era. One of the only films of his I had ever had an affinity for is Sleepy Hollow. Sleepy Hollow, the story, frightened me as a child. Throw in a terrifying, sharp-toothed Christopher Walken and a horse-producing tree vagina, and you’re set. Unfortunately, I have to chalk this up as yet another film I looked back on with heavy rose-tinted glasses.

Sleepy Hollow A Murder Mystery in Upstate New York

Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp) is a constable from New York who dreams of ‘modernizing’ police work. He has issues with how monstrous and primitive the methods of police work were at the time. In an attempt to rid themselves of his tenacity, Ichabod is sent to upstate New York by his superiors to investigate a string of decapitations. Upon arriving at Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod starts to realize there is more to this string of killings than meets the eye. Along with Katrina Anne Van Tassel (Christina Ricci), Ichabod must find the true secrets behind this small town before it’s too late.

If you’re still reading this, then I assume you’re either hate-reading to see what other negative things I say about Tim Burton, or you agree with me. Looking at his filmography, Tim Burton is clearly a genuinely impressive filmmaker. Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, Ed Wood, Mars Attacks!, Big Fish, and Frankenweenie are wonderful films. He is rightfully given the credit he deserves. Personally, I heavily dislike the aesthetic of most of his work. Dark gothic whimsy has never been appealing to me whatsoever. It’s a similar reason to why the majority of horror comedies don’t work for me.

Tim Burton Is All Style Over Substance

Behind Washington Irving’s original story exists a harrowing true tale of death and destruction. That is, if you’re to believe a bloody battle during the American Revolution inspired the story. Director Tim Burton’s quirky retelling and reimagining of this story lessens the impact of the original story. Along with writer Andrew Kevin Walker and story writers Kevin Yagher and Andrew Kevin Walker, Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow feels brainless and empty. It’s the epitome of all style and no substance.

Tim Burton should receive ample credit for how he directs his actors, though. As much as it’s easy to hate him, Johnny Depp gives a performance that clearly was him working up to his signature style. And it works very well. Depp plays off his more charismatic cast in a way that works well for his character, and this is one of the few Depp performances I truly love. Each performance (not you, Jeffrey Jones) is spectacular. Christina Ricci is a delight, as always. Michael Gambon is a joy to watch. And Christopher Walken gave me nightmares as a child. It feels weird to say that Sleepy Hollow was my first introduction to Walken, and was soon followed by “more cowbell”!

Practical Effects and Late-90s Digital Effects That Still Hold Up

1999, or the late 90s in general, was the wild wild west for digital effects in film. To my surprise, the handful of digital effects used in this film hold up incredibly well. The biggest effect in this film is the tree vagina/horse going into the tree. If there’s another positive I can give to Tim Burton, it is that he appreciates a good practical effect. Thankfully, he didn’t fall into the pitfall that many successful filmmakers did around this time. If it can be done practically, it should. Having the clout that Tim Burton has, I have a feeling that studios would not have pressured him into sacrificing any part of his vision.

Rarely do I enter a review without knowing what I want to say. Sleepy Hollow is one of those rare times. I hate to say that most of this film did little to nothing for me, now. Sure, the performances are great, and the production design is astounding. But set that aside, and this film was basically an hour and 45 minutes of me blankly looking at my television screen. It was one of the rare times that ads on a free-to-watch platform actively infuriated me. Maybe it’s because I pitched other incredible films I had already watched for January. Or maybe it’s because I still just don’t care for Tim Burton.