I loved the ending of 28 Years Later. Was it insane? Absolutely. Was it a clean resolution? Not even close. But that’s what made it so damn exciting. Danny Boyle didn’t just come back to this world to play it safe, he and writer Alex Garland tore it all down and left me standing in the wreckage, grinning and excited about what comes next.
Now look, I get it, not everyone’s going to be onboard with how this story wraps. It’s not a tidy finale. It’s a punk-rock cliffhanger that ends a chapter, not a full arc. That’s because this film is the first of a planned trilogy, with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple already lined up for January 2026, and knowing that, the ending makes more sense.
Let’s break this chaos down… full spoilers ahead.
The final stretch of the film sees young Spike return to the mainland after taking the infected-born baby back to his home. It’s a complicated, emotional choice, one that’s clearly about rejecting his violent, estranged father, Jamie.
So far, so tragic. But then…. here comes Jack O’Connell in a neon-colored fever dream. He shows up leading a bonkers gang in technicolor jumpsuits. The character shows up as Spike is being chased down by infected.
After Spike skillfully manages to take out a couple with his bow and arrows, O’Connel politely acknowledge his skill and asks if he and his crew can jump in to help finish the job.
Spike agrees, and they gleefully mow down the rage-infected chasing Spike with happy raging energetic violence. It’s an incredibly fun moment and I instantly like these new characters! It’s here was also learn that O’Connell is Jimmy.
Jimmy is the kid from the beginning of the movie. The boy who watched his mom and friends get ripped apart by the raging infested as he and several other children are watching Teletubbies. The one whose crazy priest father handed him a cross in the middle of the madness before witnessing him being attacked. So, what in the hell happened to this kid!?
There are subtle breadcrumbs throughout the film. Early on, Spike and his dad Jamie discover a man hanging by his feet with the letters “I-M-M-Y” carved into his chest. The full “J” isn’t visible, but come on… we know who that is. Later, when Spike’s traveling with Isla, “Jimmy” is painted on the side of a shed like some grim, post-apocalyptic graffiti tag.
Jimmy is thriving in this world and it seems like he’s embraced the madness of it and his having fun. He’s charismatic, terrifying, and is running his own violent crew, who all have a similar hair style to British media personality Jimmy Savile, a controversial figure in British media.
Savile was a huge influence on kids in the UK, but it wasn’t until 2012 where is was revealed that he sexually abused hundreds of people throughout his life, mostly children. He was know for his eccentric image and was respected for his charitable work. 28 Years Later is a different world, though, and with the Virus outbreak taking place in 2002, chances are with Jimmy gowing up on the quantined Ispland, he may not be aware of Savil’s dark past.
I should also point out that Jimmy is wearing a purple tracksuit, and the rest of the Jimmys wear similar clothes that are red, yellow, and green. They are wearing the colors of the Teletubbies in soft fabrics that suggest the touch of their branded toys.
To bring that connection into the film, the music from Young Fathers that plays during the battle, pays homage to the Teletubbies as it’s hard rock cover of the show’s theme song.
They are also fighting in the style of the Power Rangers, and if you remember early on in the film, Spike has a Power Rangers action figure that he almost took with him on his right-of-passage journey. He will find some common ground with this group.
While O’Connell is credited as as just Jimmy in the film, his gang is credited as Jimmy Ink, Jimmy Jones, Jimmy Snake, Jimmy Shite, and Jimmy Fox. It seems like Jimmy has memorialized his childhood, and built himself a new family.
Now Spike, who already has abandonment and trust issues, is caught in this awesome madness. A whole new world and way of doing things has been introduced to Spike and I can’t wait to see where that leads him.
Jamie’s rejection by his son cuts deep. So what’s he going to do now? Go after him? Burn the mainland to the ground? We don’t know. And the infected baby—born to rage-infected parents but somehow uninfected herself is a game-changing detail. What does that mean for the virus? Is immunity possible? Is she a cure, a key, or a new kind of threat?
And then there’s the whole Bone Temple thing, which is the subtitle of the second film. That’s obviously based on Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) creepy bone architecture and philosophical ramblings, and it seems like a prime place to start a cult. Are we about to get into religious terror territory? Will Spike introduce this gang of infected killers to Dr. Kelson? Will Jimmy become a father figure to Spike?
Plus, we’ve been told that Jim, Cillian Murphy’s OG survivor from 28 Days Later, is going to show up in the next film. It’s going to be really interesting to see how that his incorporated into the story!
Boyle did tease how Garland pitched the first two films, saying, “The first script is about the nature of family, and the second film’s about the nature of evil.“
Honestly, I walked out of the theater with my head spinning, and I mean that as a compliment. Boyle and Garland lit this franchise on fire, handed us a match, and asked if we wanted more.
Bring on The Bone Temple!
