In the decades since 28 Days Later was unleashed upon the world and gave birth to one of the great horror franchises of our time, Danny Boyle’s lo-fi, ingenious, and utterly terrifying thriller is often remembered for one particular scene. The London sequence where we first meet Cillian Murphy’s Jim is the stuff of wonder thanks to its eerily empty city streets, intensity, and that iconic Godspeed You! Black Emperor track. I do think this is an all-time great sequence, but there’s another that doesn’t get talked about nearly enough.
With 28 Days Later now streaming for anyone with a Netflix subscription (along with its 2025 sequel, 28 Years Later), I rewatched the terrifying zombie movie and quickly remembered just how much I love one underrated scene that features no infected and no tension, but a whole lot of good, clean fun.
Okay, The Grocery Store Run Is Still Incredible 22 Years Later
28 Days Later is essentially a series of terrifying, harrowing, and emotionally gruelling scenes that don’t give you much time to catch your breath or process what’s happening. However, there is one remarkable moment near the halfway point where the survivors – Jim (Cillian Murphy), Selena (Naomie Harris), Frank (Brendan Gleeson), and Hannah (Megan Burns) – make a stop for groceries on their journey to escape the deathtrap that is London.
Set to Grandaddy’s “A.M. 180,” the grocery store sweep is the antithesis of the earlier London chase sequence. It’s bright, it’s colorful, and it has this late ‘90s and early 2000s music video vibe to it. Watching it after all these years, I remembered just how much fun I had watching this late one night at a friend’s house in high school.
It's One Of The Few Sequences Where Everyone Feels Normal And Happy
Another thing that makes the grocery store scene so much fun is it’s one of the few times everyone in the movie lets their hair down, so to speak. No one is worrying about being turned into a raging lunatic, no one is sad about the loved ones they’ll never see again, no one is running for their lives. Instead, they’re running through stocked store shelves where the only rule is to not get anything you have to cook.
For a few brief moments, this is less of a story about a group of four survivors navigating the apocalypse but instead one where four people are making time for the finer things in life (like irradiated apples or some aged Scotch).
The London Chase Is The Movie's Most Iconic Scene, But This One Shouldn't Be Overlooked
Don’t get me wrong, the London chase is the scene that took my breath away when I first saw the 28 Days Later trailer and it’s the scene I remember the most vividly, but the supermarket sweep shouldn’t be overlooked. Grandaddy’s music offers a more chill vibe compared to the chaos of Godspeed’s “East Hastings,” and that’s honestly such a nice change of pace just before stuff goes off the rails again.
I understand that comparing the two is like apples and oranges in terms of subject matter, but they both sum up the best parts of the movie: the horror and the heart.
If you haven’t already, go back and watch 28 Days Later. This scene is worth a proper revisit, and you never know if the movie is going to be out of print again. If that happens, you’ll be kicking yourself.
