’28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’ promises an unsettling new chapter

The chilling new trailer for 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple has arrived, with three characters from the previous film reprising their roles.

Released in June, director Danny Boyle returned to the franchise he began with 2002’s 28 Days Later with the third instalment in the series. Set almost three decades after a society-ending zombie outbreak, it focused on a group of survivors living on an isolated island.

When a father and son venture outside the island for a coming-of-age ritual, they make the shocking discovery that there has been a mutation in the virus, which has resulted in a stronger, more intelligent zombie known as the “Alpha”.

The film was a critical and box office success, with NME’s five-star review noting: “While 28 Weeks Later explored post-7/7 paranoia, this post-Brexit successor seems to be as much about the insanity of isolationism as it is the bewildering madness of COVID. With an elegiac soundtrack courtesy of Young Fathers, it’s at turns funny, horrifying and even profound”.

Directed by Nia DaCosta, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple follows on from that story, picking up with returning characters Spike (Alfie Williams), Dr Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), and Sir Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell), the mysterious leader revealed in the last film’s twist ending.

The clip focuses mainly on Kelson, giving glimpses of his life before the outbreak and what he does to survive. There is also a shot of him coming face-to-face with the “Alpha”.

The trailer goes on the show glimpses of Sir Jimmy Crystal’s cult, with the two characters’ paths seemingly intersecting. The unsettling preview is narrated by a radio broadcast that talks about the future.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is released in cinemas on January 16, 2026. A sequel to The Bone Temple, completing the trilogy, is in development.

In June, 28 Years Later director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland spoke to NME about Young Fathers’ soundtrack to the horror sequel, saying they were a “real inspiration”.