Richard Crouse

SYNOPSIS: The fourth installment in the post-apocalyptic “28 Days” film series, “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” picks up with young Rage Virus survivor Spike (Alfie Williams) joining cult leader Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal’s (Jack O’Connell) notorious gang. Meanwhile, Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) bonds with a figure from the infected world. These alliances raise an important question: who should we fear, the ruthless survivors or the infected?

CAST: Ralph Fiennes, Jack O’Connell, Alfie Williams, Erin Kellyman, Chi Lewis-Parry. Directed by Nia DaCosta.

REVIEW: A mix of brutality and compassion, and laced with dark humour, “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” finds empathy amid chaos in a smart horror film heavy with subtext.

When the action picks up, soon after the events of last year’s grisly coming-of-age story “28 Years Later,” twelve-year-old Spike (Alfie Williams), cut adrift in the Rage Virus infected mainland after the death of his father, is a reluctant member of a sadistic gang called the Jimmies, who model their look on notorious predator Jimmy Savile.

Led by sadistic cult leader Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal (“Sinners” star Jack O’Connell), the self-proclaimed “favorite son of Old Nick,” the band of post-apocalyptic marauders—who all have names like Jimmy Ink (Erin Kellyman), Jimmy Fox (Sam Locke), Jimmy Snake (Ghazi Al Ruffai), Jimmima (Emma Laird)—make the Droogs of “A Clockwork Oranges” look like do-gooders.

As they slice-and-dice their way through the world of the infected, inflicting their twisted ritualistic torture on anyone unfortunate enough to cross their path, elsewhere, former GP Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) discovers a kernel of humanity inside Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry) the Alpha leader of the infected.

In Kelson’s Bone Temple, a wooded area decked out with skulls as a loving tribute to the dead, the Jimmies’ cruelty and Kelson’s indelible humanity collide.

“28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” features many gross and gory images. Samson scoops brains out of the skull of one of his victims with his fingers, and several folks are flayed alive in one particularly unpleasant sequence, but it isn’t the horrific bloodletting that will stick in the memory. The gruesome stuff is effectively done and highlights the inhumanity of the situation, but it is one bravado sequence, laden with heavy metal swagger, that imprints.

No spoilers here, but Iron Maiden has never looked so cool or so threatening. After the sequence, and you’ll know it when you see it, the audience I saw this with cheered and burst into applause like they were at a rock concert.

Laced with commentary about empathy over evil and extremism, about the double-edged search for purpose—one that leads the ruthless Jimmies down a path to savagery, while Kelson chooses a more benevolent journey—and the power of connection, “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” paints a vivid picture of moral complexity in troubled times. That it provides thrills, one fiery, knock-out sequence, and manages to make Duran Duran’s “Ordinary World” seem poignant, are added bonuses.

Rich in tone and story and propelled by terrific performances from Fiennes and O’Connell, it engages the head and heart.