‘28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’ Explores Atheism vs. Satanism
(REVIEW) Atheism isn’t as in vogue as it used to be. Gone are the days when the main alternatives to Christianity were the “New Atheists” like Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris.
Now, even as Christianity is losing ground in the Western population, those who define themselves as “spiritual but not religious” are on the rise. Movies like “Presence,” “Sinners,” “Black Phone 2,” “The Conjuring: Last Rites,” “Eternity,” “Avatar: Fire & Ash” and “Death of a Unicorn” all reflect this growing interest in spirituality outside of organized Christian religion.
But there are still some movies that promote traditional atheistic rationalism. Last year, “The Life of Chuck” and “The Monkey” both gave moving meditations on death. But chief among them right now is the “28 Years Later” franchise. A sequel to the classic zombie movies “28 Days Later” and “28 Weeks Later,” “28 Years Later” follows life after the zombie apocalypse in a desolate U.K.
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Now, less than a year later, “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” comes out. This film functions less as a fourth sequel to “28 Days Later” and more as a direct sequel to “28 Years Later,” following the events and characters from that film.
In a shift in the series, “The Bone Temple” makes the antagonists Satanists rather than Christians. This reflects a world, very much like ours, where Christianity is no longer atheism’s chief rival, and atheism has to argue why it has the better alternative to Christianity’s even more brutal replacements.
Following the events of “28 Years Later,” the hermit Dr. Kelson (played by Ralph Fiennes) makes a discovery that could change the world as they know it: a cure for the rage virus. The young Spike’s (Alfie Williams) encounter with Jimmy Crystal (Jack O'Connell) becomes a nightmare he can't escape as he’s forced to join Jimmy’s cult. These two worlds collide when Jimmy Crystal encounters Kelson and tries to blackmail Kelson into posing for Jimmy’s cult as Jimmy’s father, Old Nick–The Devil.
Quality-wise, “The Bone Temple” is far superior to “28 Years.” Nia DaCosta is an expert craftsman and makes sure the style and storytelling feel unique even as she inhabits the same world as the previous film — and by extension, other post-apocalyptic and zombie films. She makes the colors richer and more saturated. She keeps the camera on the characters and scenes longer, giving it a still and contemplative vibe; what Paul Schrader calls “transcendental style” that evokes transcendent religious experiences.
She contrasts that with both the savagery of the world and the characters who constantly try to alleviate this stillness by embracing punk rock aesthetics, lifestyles, and music. DaCosta focuses on what’s unique about the world – a post-apocalyptic landscape that’s carried over a bizarre, mishmash of archaic cultural elements from the pre-apocalyptic world.
The primary conflict in “Bone Temple” is Satanism versus atheism. The film is not subtle on this point. When Jimmy and Kelson meet, Kelson describes the zombie virus as an infection. Jimmy laughs because he describes the demons in scientific terms.
“So you’re an atheist.” Kelson looks back on him with understanding.
“I see. I’m an atheist. And you’re a satanist.” Jimmy agrees.
Jimmy lays out why Christianity is no longer atheism’s primary threat in a speech earlier in the story. In Jimmy’s telling, the zombies destroyed the world, and God did nothing, because he doesn’t exist. Jimmy sees these zombies as minions of Old Nick (Satan). So Jimmy decides to serve Old Nick, killing in his name, since he’s the one who actually rules the world. In other words, Christianity is no longer atheism’s primary antagonist because so many people feel like Christianity let them down.
But Dr. Ian Kelson has a different story to tell about the world. The zombies have purely material causes. The infection destroyed the world, but because no God was ruling it, there’s no God to be disappointed in. Humanity’s hubris is that it believed the civilization it built was so stable that it couldn’t be destroyed. But because the cause of the infection was purely material, its solution could be purely material as well. Kelson proves it by actually curing an infected zombie during the course of the story.
“Bone Temple” makes this case the proof that atheism is superior to religion. The atheist Kelson understands the zombies better than the satanists do. He understands the satanists’ beliefs better than Jimmy does; the proof is that he’s able to imitate their beliefs well enough to convincingly manipulate them by pretending to be Satan.
The film also argues that atheism is morally superior. Throughout the film, Kelson is the one who works to redeem the infected, to save people, even at the cost of his own life. The ending – with a cameo that fans of the franchise will appreciate – lays out the atheist justification for this morality didactically: we must redeem our enemies because not redeeming them just creates more enemies.
But “Bone Temple” acknowledges the weakness of atheism as well: atheists are always outnumbered. New Atheists like Richard Dawkins and Steven Pinker have been dumbfounded by the fact that the decline of Christianity has not produced more enlightened atheists, but people who embrace different kinds of, in Dawkins’s view, “faith creeds.” Or rising antisemitism and Christian Nationalism. (Even Hitler is gaining new fans).
Many modern atheists are admitting now that atheism simply doesn’t scale. Sociologist Jonathan Haidt notes in “The Anxious Generation” that the data seem to show that human communities require regular worship of personified shared values to bind us together. For this reason, sociologist Ryan Burge argues in his new book “The Vanishing Church” that we should all go to church, even if we don’t believe it, because we need it to keep society going.
But “The Bone Temple” has no reconciliation between religion and rationalism. The film ends with hope that this ideology will live on through those saved by the enlightened ones. But given what we see in this film and in society, believing that takes a lot of faith.
“28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” is playing now in theaters.
Joseph Holmes is an award-nominated filmmaker and culture critic living in New York. He is co-host of the podcast “The Overthinkers” and its companion website theoverthinkersjournal.world, where he discusses art, culture and faith with his fellow overthinkers. His other work and contact info can be found at josephholmesstudios.com.