![]() When scanning the radio for signs of life, they receive a broadcast that speaks of salvation: “The answer to infection is here… We are soldiers, we are armed, and we can protect you.” When hearing this repeated message, we sense it preying on the survivors’ desperation for security and aims to indoctrinate its listeners into an assurance that military action is the answer. The four drink Crème de menthe together to mark the formation of their post-nuclear family, a solemn toast that also feels like a moment of silence in the face of unspeakable tragedy. When they reach the beacon, they find the flat occupied by cab driver Frank ( Brendan Gleeson) and his daughter Hannah ( Megan Burns). RELATED: Why We Still Haven’t Seen '28 Months Later'Īfter a few close calls with the virus, Jim bands with fellow survivor Selena ( Naomie Harris) and they are drawn like moths to a high-rise apartment flickering with fairy lights. To imagine that this film’s sprawling vision could not be attained post-9/11 conveys the sense that 28 Days Later acts as a companion piece to the jarringly swift changes that would impact us in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. One of the film’s most iconic shots is Jim walking the empty streets of central London, a shot that Murphy and Boyle believe would not have been possible in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. When he enters the city, the population at large was ravaged by the virus while he was sleeping, a sensation not unlike the rude awakening of rising on September 11th, 2001 to face the scale of death that shrouded that morning’s newscast. Twenty-eight days later, we find our main protagonist, courier Jim ( Cillian Murphy), waking up from a coma after a bike accident. Despite the desperate pleas of the attending scientist, the activists unleash the infected chimps, triggering a devastating epidemic. Little do they know, the tests the primates are being subjected to are prodding their propensity to go postal. In the opening scenes, we find a group of hardcore animal rights activists breaking into a lab to find caged chimpanzees being shown an abundance of rage porn. The Rage virus at the center of Garland’s story preys on the mind’s singular impulse to commit heinous acts of violence. As we entered a new age of warfare, so too did we enter a new era of zombies more ferocious than ever before. Additionally, the impeccable timing of a zombie film so unlike its predecessors premiering at the dawn of a post-9/11 era introduced a new dimension of terror and doused any lingering doubts that society was on the brink of momentous change. In Romero’s footsteps, writer Alex Garland tapped into a simmering tension that was discernible at the time but whose horrors were not yet fully realized. But the film, in all its raw, camcorder glory, evokes an undeniable cynicism that is classically ascribed to undead film lore. Strangely, Boyle would veer away from notions that 28 Days Later is categorically a zombie flick. Romero, the original purveyor of walking cadavers in cinema, has suggested that his 1968 film Night of the Living Dead was inspired by the palpable anger of the time, fueled by the brutal imagery of the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement that flooded television screens across the nation. Boyle’s film only continues in the tradition of political messaging in zombie films. ![]() It is no accident that 28 Days Later found itself striking a chord with the political tension of the times. This infuses the movie with a prescient power that cements its status as a groundbreaking zombie film. The film’s narrative continues to eerily mirror the post-9/11 climate, from the trauma induced by a staggering loss of life to the reinstatement of a military that continues to perpetuate violence under the guise of safety and security. Much like the infectious virus at the center of 28 Days Later, we saw the accelerated occurrence of hateful acts and violence in real-time. These malicious attacks would provoke a reactionary “war on terror” that sent us headlong into a new age of international conflict. A majority of the shoot took place right before the world was thrown into strife and uncertainty in the wake of September 11th. Beyond reinvigorating the genre with a new vicious breed of undead who demonstrate a disturbing level of athleticism, the uncanny timing of the film’s release is difficult to overlook. ![]() Romero’s living dead first dragged their way across our screens, few zombie films have sunk their teeth into the nerve of audiences quite like Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later.
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