When Bogeymen Walk the Earth
In the wake of the Iraq War and the almost immediate disintegration of that society as well as the SARS outbreak that has panicked half the world, director Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later couldn't be more timely or more needed. Because what Boyle delivers is more than one of the best end of the world horror flicks in a long time, but a treatise on what it means to be a civilized human being when civilization evaporates overnight.
The movie opens with a group of animal rights activists breaking into a research laboratory and inadvertently unleashing the plague—referred to only once as "rage"—on the unsuspecting citizens of the British Isles. Twenty-eight days later, brain surgery patient Jim (Cillian Murphy), who has been in a coma during the entire crisis, wakes up to find his world literally gone to pieces. Along the way he meets Selena (Naomie Harris) and Mark (Noah Huntley), two uninfected humans simply trying to survive. They have scant information on what has happened, but assume that the entire world has been infected and that mankind is doomed. Eventually with new companions Frank (Brendan Gleeson) and his daughter Hannah (Megan Burns), Jim and Selena set out to find an army post that can take them in and protect them from the roving bands of surviving infected humans. It is at the army base that the survivors meet the real monsters.
The picture's greatest strength is Alex Garland's spare script, which sticks to naturalistic dialogue and simple scenes, with occasional touches of humor to offset the menace of post-plague Britain. There are no big speeches, no debates between the characters, no explanations for what has happened. The audience knows only why this occurred—the swipe at the unintended consequences of animal rights "do-gooderism" is a nice touch. Instead, he gives us people who are at the end of their ropes who have to survive or become one of the damned. But be warned, this movie is not for the faint of heart. The language is rough, the violence, though stylized, is brutal and unflinching, and the themes, including the sexual jeopardy of pubescent Hannah and how Selena intends to "protect" her, are definitely deep into "R" territory.
At the heart of 28 Days Later is the theme of what makes a civilization. Each character has his or her own view on this, but the "Hollywood" ending is obviously Garland and Boyle's view. For all its bleakness, the movie is surprisingly uplifting, and, unlike the big budget pictures that are on the scene at the moment, full of emotional depth. The audience cares about these people.
The acting is understated and muted with both Murphy and Harris giving standout performances as Jim and Selena. They have nice chemistry and Jim's action hero turn at the end is absolutely plausible in the movie's context. But it is Christopher Eccleston as the messianic and mad Major Henry West who gives the real stand out performance. He's crazy, but Eccleston gives him a sort of dignity in the moral pragmatism that sets up the finale.
Production designer Mark Tildesley also deserves a nod for creating an end of the world that still looks eerily familiar.
28 Days Later is not so much scary as it is disturbing. This could happen, and that's the grist for the best horror movies.
The movie opens with a group of animal rights activists breaking into a research laboratory and inadvertently unleashing the plague—referred to only once as "rage"—on the unsuspecting citizens of the British Isles. Twenty-eight days later, brain surgery patient Jim (Cillian Murphy), who has been in a coma during the entire crisis, wakes up to find his world literally gone to pieces. Along the way he meets Selena (Naomie Harris) and Mark (Noah Huntley), two uninfected humans simply trying to survive. They have scant information on what has happened, but assume that the entire world has been infected and that mankind is doomed. Eventually with new companions Frank (Brendan Gleeson) and his daughter Hannah (Megan Burns), Jim and Selena set out to find an army post that can take them in and protect them from the roving bands of surviving infected humans. It is at the army base that the survivors meet the real monsters.
The picture's greatest strength is Alex Garland's spare script, which sticks to naturalistic dialogue and simple scenes, with occasional touches of humor to offset the menace of post-plague Britain. There are no big speeches, no debates between the characters, no explanations for what has happened. The audience knows only why this occurred—the swipe at the unintended consequences of animal rights "do-gooderism" is a nice touch. Instead, he gives us people who are at the end of their ropes who have to survive or become one of the damned. But be warned, this movie is not for the faint of heart. The language is rough, the violence, though stylized, is brutal and unflinching, and the themes, including the sexual jeopardy of pubescent Hannah and how Selena intends to "protect" her, are definitely deep into "R" territory.
At the heart of 28 Days Later is the theme of what makes a civilization. Each character has his or her own view on this, but the "Hollywood" ending is obviously Garland and Boyle's view. For all its bleakness, the movie is surprisingly uplifting, and, unlike the big budget pictures that are on the scene at the moment, full of emotional depth. The audience cares about these people.
The acting is understated and muted with both Murphy and Harris giving standout performances as Jim and Selena. They have nice chemistry and Jim's action hero turn at the end is absolutely plausible in the movie's context. But it is Christopher Eccleston as the messianic and mad Major Henry West who gives the real stand out performance. He's crazy, but Eccleston gives him a sort of dignity in the moral pragmatism that sets up the finale.
Production designer Mark Tildesley also deserves a nod for creating an end of the world that still looks eerily familiar.
28 Days Later is not so much scary as it is disturbing. This could happen, and that's the grist for the best horror movies.
