’28 Years Later’ Recap: What to Remember Before ‘The Bone Temple’

Nia DaCosta’s “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” the second part of a new “28 Years” trilogy, hit theaters Friday.

The film is a direct sequel to “28 Years Later,” Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s return to the world of “28 Days Later” after more than two decades away from the franchise. Fans had a much shorter wait for “The Bone Temple,” which releases only seven months after “28 Years Later” hit theaters last July.

Seven months may not be a long wait, but it’s still plenty of time to forget a few key details from “28 Years Later.” Before you see “The Bone Temple” this weekend, here’s everything you need to remember about the “28 Days” franchise.

How does “28 Years Later” end?

“28 Years Later” follows Spike (Alfie Williams), a 12-year-old boy living on Lindisfarne, an island that can only access Great Britain via a single causeway during low tide. This grants the Lindisfarne community protection from the zombified people infected by the Rage virus throughout quarantined Britain.

After going to the mainland on a coming-of-age hunt, Spike and his father Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) narrowly make it back to Lindisfarne with their lives. Spike, however, soon chooses to return to the mainland with his mother Isla (Jodie Comer) in the hopes that he can find a doctor to cure her mysterious illness (more on that later).

Along the way, Isla helps an infected woman give birth to a child, who appears to be immune to the Rage virus. Later, Spike returns to Lindisfarne with the baby (whom he names Isla after his mother), leaving her in his father’s care. Spike then returns to the mainland a final time, saying that he’ll come home to Jamie when he’s ready.

28 days later, Spike is attacked by a group of infected when he is rescued by a man named Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell) and his gang known as the “Jimmies” — all styled after Jimmy Savile, a popular British entertainer who was exposed as a serial sexual abuser following his death in 2011. Keep in mind, the infection in the “28 Years Later” universe began in the early 2000s, long before Savile’s crimes would become public knowledge.

At the end of the film, Spike appears to join up with the Jimmies for his further adventures on the mainland.

What is the Bone Temple?

When Spike takes Isla to the mainland, he seeks out Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), a former doctor the boy believed could help his mother. Jamie initially warns Spike that Kelson is insane, as he had once witnessed the doctors burning a mass of bodies.

When Spike and Isla eventually find Kelson, they discover that he is not, in fact, insane; rather, he has discovered ways to live harmoniously among the infected, using blow darts to make them non-aggressive and covering his body with iodine to make them non-aggressive.

Kelson reveals the purpose of the burned bodies to Spike and Isla as he introduces them to the Bone Temple, a massive monument to those who were killed as a result of the outbreak. Kelson explains the concept of “memento mori” — or “remember we must die.”

Later, Kelson examines Isla, diagnosing her with terminal cancer. He then tranquilizes Spike as a means of calming him before euthanizing Isla. Before he gives Isla a peaceful death, Kelson teaches Spike the meaning of “memento amores” — remember we must love.

Kelson then cleans Isla’s bones, allowing Spike to place her skull atop the Bone Temple monument. It’s a devastating and beautiful sequence, making the sequel’s further focus on Kelson and the Bone Temple all the more intriguing.

Who returns in “The Bone Temple”?

Spike, Kelson, Jimmy Crystal and the rest of the Jimmies (including Erin Kellyman and Emma Laird) all factor into the “28 Years Later” sequel in one way or another, directly continuing the story established in the first film of the trilogy.

Another character confirmed to return is Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry) a hulking infected Alpha whom Kelson co-exists with (and nearly dies from) in the first “28 Years Later” film.

Will there be another “28 Years Later” movie?

Leading up to “28 Years Later,” Boyle and Garland made it clear that they intended to make three films in total: one from Boyle, one from DaCosta and a third film that would be again directed by Boyle. This trilogy capper, which would also see Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy (who played the protagonist of “28 Days Later”) return to the franchise, depended on audience interest and box office returns.

In December, the “28 Years Later” finale received the greenlight from Sony.

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