It isn’t easy to take a franchise and introduce new characters and make them as exciting as the original film. But both 28 Years Later and now The Bone Temple have shown us how rich the world of 28 Days Later really is.
The Alex Garland written film follows the story of Jimmy (Jack O’Connell) and his Jimmys. Through the unique lens of Nia DaCosta. At the end of 28 Years Later, we got to see what Jimmy (a character we met briefly in the beginning of the film) was doing now. But through all of The Bone Temple, we’re seeing both the darker side of the post-apocalyptic world mixed with the hopeful.
Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) represents the hope in the dark times. In the first 28 Years Later film, he was a guide for Isla (Jodie Comer) and Spike (Alfie Williams). And in many ways, his role in The Bone Temple explores the deeper motivations of why Kelson wants to exist in this world in the way he is. And both Kelson’s storyline and the Jimmys storyline come together in a beautiful way to show an audience how differently people can react to things like a global outbreak.
The terrifying world of the Jimmys
Not everyone takes to life in the apocalypse in the same way. Some, like Dr. Kelson, are trying to be a force of good in the world. The Jimmys represent the opposite of that. Spike finds himself among their ranks and only one Jimmy (played Erin Kellyman) really has the time and compassion towards Spike that he really needs. Instead, most of the Jimmys thrive in chaos.
Their leader, Jimmy Crystal, wants to take whatever he can and it leads to destruction and pain. No matter where he goes or what he does, he takes and takes and forces the Jimmys do it for him. It shows the darkside of things like the end of the world. He could easily be someone who allowed others to to join them, to build a community. Instead, he uses the fear of the world to his advantage.
And DaCosta and O’Connell don’t shy away from the darkness that is within Jimmy. He believes himself to be the son of the Devil and you can see how that idea has corroded his mind. There is no hope for “goodness” within him and it makes for an incredibly compelling villain opposite both Spike and Kelson.
Compassion and Dr. Kelson
It would be so easy for Kelson to give up but a lot of his work with Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry) is hopeful. He believes in humanity and even the infected in a way that everyone else has seemingly given up on. In the 28 years since the outbreak happened, Kelson hasn’t lost hope and that is part of what made his section of 28 Years Later so brilliant.
I loved the Kelson section of that film so it wasn’t really a surprise that I came into The Bone Temple with the same love for the character. And it ended up making what DaCosta and Garland are doing with The Bone Temple that much more special.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is in theaters on January 16.
(featured image: Sony Pictures)
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