28 Days Later

Critics Consensus

Kinetically directed by Danny Boyle, 28 Days Later is both a terrifying zombie movie and a sharp political allegory.

86%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 226

85%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 482,114
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Movie Info

After breaking into a primate research facility, a group of animal rights activists discover caged chimps chained up before banks of screens displaying horrifying, violent images. Ignoring the warnings of the terrified researcher who maintains that the chimps are infected, they begin to free the animals and are immediately subjected to a bloody attack from the enraged creatures. Twenty-eight days later, Cycle courier Jim awakes from a coma in the deserted intensive care unit of a London hospital. He wanders out into a church where he finds dead bodies piled in heaps on the chapel floor. A sudden explosion from a makeshift bomb heralds the arrival of fellow "survivors" Selina and Mark. They take Jim to safety and explain to him that this infection is transmitted by blood and overwhelms the infected victim with a murderous rage within seconds. Britain has been overrun, and they have no way of knowing if it has spread worldwide. Their only hope of survival may lie in the hands of a Manchester group of soldiers, as they claim to have the "answer" to infection and invite any survivors to join them at their blockade. Faced with no practical alternative, the group sets out northwards, unaware that the worst is yet to come.
  • Rating:
    R (for strong violence and gore, language and nudity)
  • Genre:
    Horror, Science Fiction & Fantasy
  • Directed By:
    Danny Boyle
  • Written By:
    Alex Garland
  • In Theaters:
     wide
  • On Disc/Streaming:
  • Box Office:
    $44,900,469
  • Runtime:
  • Studio:
    Fox Searchlight Pictures

Cast

Cillian Murphy
as Jim
Naomie Harris
as Selena
Brendan Gleeson
as Frank
Megan Burns
as Hannah
Christopher Eccleston
as Maj. Henry West
Luke Mably
as Pvt. Clifton
Stuart McQuarrie
as Sgt. Farrell
Ricci Harnett
as Cpl. Mitchell
Leo Bill
as Pvt. Jones
Junior Laniyan
as Pvt. Bell
Ray Panthaki
as Private Bedford
Sanjay Rambaruth
as Private Davis
Marvin Campbell
as Private Mailer
Noah Huntley
as Mark
Alex Palmer
as Activist
Bindu De Stoppani
as Activist
Jukka Hiltunen
as Activist
David Schneider
as Scientist
Toby Sedgwick
as Infected Priest
Christopher Dunne
as Jim's Father
Emma Hitching
as Jim's Mother
Alexander Delamere
as Mr. Bridges
Kim McGarrity
as Mr. Bridges Daughter
Justin Hackney
as Infected Kid
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Critic Reviews for 28 Days Later

All Critics (226) | Top Critics (52) | Fresh (195) | Rotten (31)

  • The movie's craft makes the dread of a killer virus contagious: viewers may feel they have come down with a case of secondhand SARS or sympathetic monkeypox.

    Oct 6, 2013 | Full Review…

    Richard Corliss

    TIME Magazine
    Top Critic

  • Heedlessly derivative though it may be, 28 Days Later does what it sets out to do and then some -- scare us out of our wits, then get us to apply those wits to an uncommonly intelligent and provocative zombie flick.

    Oct 6, 2013 | Full Review…

    Joe Morgenstern

    Wall Street Journal
    Top Critic

  • Later does a lot of things right, which makes its third-act missteps even more frustrating.

    Oct 6, 2013 | Full Review…

    Nathan Rabin

    AV Club
    Top Critic

  • The picture is twitchy and annoying, flecked with blood and half-digested ideas, and too much is left unexplained.

    Oct 6, 2013 | Full Review…

    Anthony Lane

    New Yorker
    Top Critic

  • Danny Boyle's purposeful direction and Mark Tildesley's imaginative and resourceful production design keep this fresh and edgy; the images of a wasted London and the details of a paramilitary organization in the countryside are both creepy and persuasive.

    Oct 6, 2013 | Full Review…

    Jonathan Rosenbaum

    Chicago Reader
    Top Critic

  • What also makes 28 Days Later effective, and sets it apart from other thrillers, is that it makes you care about the characters.

    Oct 6, 2013

    Christy Lemire

    Associated Press
    Top Critic
View All Critic Reviews (226)

Audience Reviews for 28 Days Later

  • Apr 18, 2017
    As far as zombie movies go this sure is different. It is also very raw and gritty, as well as inappropriate at times. I do not feel like I need to watch it again.
    Jarrin R Super Reviewer
  • Oct 22, 2016
    Menacing, grisly and bloody-brilliant to its core. 28 Days Later's combination of heart-pounding terror and gritty realism conjure up a fascinating take on a zombie/infection/plague tale and its real-world-situational trope. 4/5
    Eugene B Super Reviewer
  • Dec 29, 2014
    Truly horrifying and intense but it weakens towards the end.
    Maymay A Super Reviewer
  • Jun 01, 2014
    Early neo-zombie flick is chilling in its unapologetic depiction of our fierce will to survive and the inhuman violence in humanity...and vice versa. Cillian Murphy is a bit bland at first, but then he gets balls-to-the-wall psycho. Naomie Harris (whom I erroneously thought was a recent ingenue) is bold and tough as the pitiless then maternal Selena, and the little bits of humor and camaraderie in this ragtag family are heartwarming. "The Walking Dead" seems to have taken its entire premise from this movie.
    Alice S Super Reviewer
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