‘28 Years Later’ Argues A Secular Death Better Than A Christian One
Warning: This review contains spoilers.
(REVIEW) Zombies have been a popular symbol of death in Hollywood for a long time. These mindless beasts that resemble humans without retaining anything about our distinct personalities or relationships also have a visceral ability to articulate our fear of the end. Death is an ever-present fact of life, so symbols of death, like skulls or the Grim Reaper, are natural.
This is particularly true during times when religious symbols of death and what comes after (like the Christian cross) appear to be out of style. This replacement of religious narratives around death with secular ones is a major theme of the film “28 Years Later.” You might even consider it a metaphor for why the religious view of death is bad and needs to be replaced by a secular one.
Directed by Danny Boyle (“Slumdog Millionaire” and “Trainspotting”) and written by Alex Garland (“Ex Machina” and “Civil War”), “28 Years Later” is a sequel to the pair’s original film “28 Days Later” and its sequel “28 Weeks Later.” Twenty-eight years after the “Rage virus” (which creates zombies) escaped a medical research lab, survivors have found ways to exist among the infected.
One group lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily defended causeway. When a father named Jamie (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his son Spike (Alfie Williams) leave the island on a mission into the dark heart of the mainland, they discover the secrets, wonders and horrors of the outside world. The film also stars Jodie Comer as Spike’s mom and Jamie’s wife, along with Ralph Fiennes.
“28 Years Later” is a weird film tonally. The first act is rather slow, the second gets really interesting and the end is a bit of a letdown. The movie’s start is fairly generic as post-apocalyptic zombie and father-son bonding films go. It’s well done, with the characters and the world introduced and the tension rising slowly. But neither are they developed much beyond basic archetypes we’ve seen before.
The movie picks up once Spike decides he doesn’t like his father anymore and defies him — first to his face before secretly taking his mom to see a doctor on the mainland. This is interesting because the characters are being forced to make unpredictable and compelling choices with major potential consequences. When the character named Erik (Edvin Ryding) comes into the story, he adds humor and perspective on the world that makes you wonder what will happen next. As does the introduction of noninfected babies of the infected.
But by the end, the film wraps up rather predictably and easily. Most of these new characters or ideas die or never really go anywhere. Spike gets a sentimental sendoff with his mom, and Dr. Kelson (played by Fiennes) is experienced enough to go off on his own. Then he encounters a new group that doesn’t really have any time to develop or function in a way that pays off any of the movie’s plot or themes, so it comes off primarily as sequel bait.
Religion is an interesting component in this film. Crosses and other Christian imagery are present both in the flashback scenes and in the film’s present day. In the beginning, as the zombie outbreak is just starting, Jamie takes shelter in a church. There, he tries to have his priest help him, saying that everyone was dead. In return, the priest replies that they aren’t dead, but saved. Even so, he doesn’t try to stop Jamie from escaping, but gives him a cross and tells him to “have faith.” There, Jamie hides while the priest welcomes the zombies.
Where the symbolism gets more clear is later in the story. The film makes a contrast between how the islanders treat the zombies (and by extension death) and how Dr. Kelson does. The islanders hold the zombies at arm’s length as a sequestered community that imagines itself as noble knights holding the line against barbarian hordes. They create rituals around men going out and getting food and killing the zombies like dragons, and practice a rigid ideology of not going out to rescue anyone who does live. Their view of death is based on fear, distance and an aggressive illusion of control.
Jamie, in particular, has a dysfunctional relationship with death. He constantly lies to Spike about its reality, such as telling him what’s really wrong with his mom. He deals with his wife dying by having an affair. This lying and cheating is ultimately what alienates him from Spike. His denial of death and desire to protect himself and his son from it — by being a good killer and lying about his and his son’s invincibility from it, and his mother’s condition — ultimately destroy their relationship.
By contrast, Dr. Kelson lives close to death and seems at peace with it. He’s a mainland resident among the zombies and uses his medical abilities to create drug darts he can use to keep them from killing him. He’s deeply at peace with death, never lying about it, speaking about it honestly and completely willing to give Isla a mercy killing that she desires.
“There are many different kinds of death,” he says. “Some are better than others.”
He goes on to say that the best are peaceful, knowing that we love and are loved. This sums up Dr. Kelson’s philosophy: Accepting death rather than attempting to deny it or overcome it.
It’s here that the religious symbolism is most explicit. There, unlike the islanders, he doesn’t have crosses to commemorate the dead. Instead, he burns all the dead bodies and puts their skulls in a mountain monument. Crosses, because they represent Jesus’ death and resurrection, represent a triumph over death. This contrasts with Dr. Kelson’s embrace and acceptance of death. Looking at Dr. Kelson’s peace and kindness — alongside Jamie’s aggressive denial and paranoia (along with the rest of the island) — make his vision of death appear better.
The movie’s religious symbol of triumph over death is a lie that causes us to deny death and create all sorts of toxic ways of keeping it at bay from our minds — and temporarily from our own lives. It’s only when we accept death that we can truly have the right conversations about what “kind” of death is best — one that honors our lives. In this secular vision, the skull replaces the cross as the best way to honor the dead: Not through a triumph over death, but an embrace of it.
This conflict helps us understand culture war controversies like physician-assisted suicide. Christianity has long influenced the world to shun suicide. As the West has secularized, this taboo has weakened, such that places like Canada have passed laws allowing doctors to euthanize patients who want to die. This law was initially restricted to those with natural deaths that were “reasonably foreseeable,” but that was amended and removed.
The Christian view is ultimately of death as an alien invader that Christ triumphs over, and so causing death merely for suffering is seen as siding with the enemy that Jesus defeated. Life is so valuable, but the secular view is that there is no triumph over death, but merely a choice between “kinds” of death — so choosing your own death is a way of giving dignity to the person.
As cultural worldviews change, so does how our art depicts death. The placing of skulls as a symbol of death that better honors the dignity of humans (over that of the cross) is a sign of a belief articulated through art. Time will tell which one will ultimately triumph — and how either (and both) will change in the telling.
“28 Years Later” is 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.