Danny Boyle says ’28 Years Later’ is response to Brexit and “retrenchment to older values”

Danny Boyle has revealed that 28 Years Later is a response to Brexit and “retrenchment to older values”.

The new entry is the third film in the post-apocalyptic 28 Days Later franchise, and is the first of a planned trilogy of movies. The story is set a few decades after the initial virus struck, focusing on a group of survivors who live on a small island off the mainland.

Speaking to The Sunday Times, Boyle – who returns to helm the sequel – revealed that it is “a very, very British film”.

“It’s not a political film, but when we started work on this, it came after Brexit and that retrenchment to older values, and you cannot help but think that this film is a response to that,” he explained. “The film is full of British actors, and our obsessions.”

He added: “I cannot imagine what the Americans are going to make of it. Obviously you’d love it to be a hit there, because they’ve given us the money, but really? We’ve made the film for here, my homeland.”

Speaking further about the current state of the world and whether humans now have become like the rage-filled chimps of the franchise, he mused: “Well, yes, we think we are so advanced, and becoming more sophisticated, but nothing in that footage is dated.

“There is this intolerance and you hope that goodness will return, and that we’ll start paying public servants better, cherishing teachers and doctors, those institutions we are improved by or that save us. They should be the people who inspire us, not the technologists, who feed us this stuff as a result of the devotion we show them.

“But you have to take personal responsibility to try and keep a spirit alive. There’s this great Embrace song called ‘All You Good Good People’, and I still have this belief in good. Progress isn’t based solely on technology, but on soul. My mother brought me up to believe that, and younger generations seem like they are actually better people than we were.”

28 Years later is set to star the likes of Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes, while Cillian Murphy – who is credited as an executive producer – has been confirmed to return at some point in the trilogy.

The upcoming film – set for release later in June – will be followed by 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, directed by Nia DaCosta, which is due out next year.

Meanwhile, 28 Years Later‘s trailer became the most-watched horror trailer of 2024, and the second-biggest ever.

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