In smart splatter horror '28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,' faith and science crawl from the muck

Last summer’s “28 Years Later,” the 3rd introduction successful the long-running franchise astir fast-running zombies, introduced an alpha brute who kills victims similar a cook stems a strawberry, expertly ripping retired skulls and spines with a yank. “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” stuffs the audience’s brains backmost in. Gruesomely some debased and highbrow, it’s the movie equivalent of Jell-O wrestling an anthropology prof astatine Burning Man, which whitethorn person been the inspiration of 1 of its standout characters, Ralph Fiennes’ spry and mesmerizing Dr. Ian Kelson, an intelligence chap who waxes connected astir humanity portion protectively smeared head-to-toe successful sticky orangish gak.

As the briefest of recaps — this isn’t a sequel you tin ticker acold — Dr. Kelson is 1 of the survivors of a rage microorganism pandemic that wiped retired the bulk of the United Kingdom successful the archetypal film, 2002’s “28 Days Later,” written by Alex Garland and directed by Danny Boyle. (Garland returns; Boyle present passes the zom-baton to Nia DaCosta of “Candyman” and “Hedda.”) The different countries successful the satellite person kept somewhat calm and carried connected by quarantining Britain from civilization, a metaphor for utmost sudden-death Brexit.

DaCosta shares Boyle’s maneuver of attacking a taxable from 2 flanks: a showy battle (we’re doomed!) and a subversive sneak-around (perhaps we ever were). Zombie stories are either astir a civilization’s illness oregon its rebuilding and typically usage our modern nine arsenic a measuring instrumentality of success. But this bid has accidentally-on-purpose traced the plummeting temper of the 21st century. The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, disrupted Boyle’s archetypal shoot, and upon its release, his shots of prima Cillian Murphy walking done an emptied London seemed to remark connected our abrupt vulnerability and unease.

“The foundations, they seemed unshakeable,” Fiennes’ Dr. Kelson says successful the caller movie of the past years of the 20th century. (Another quality who indispensable stay concealed for present trusts that humanity managed to escaped itself of fascism.) Having had decades to tally free, the infected present lucifer Neanderthals. Life has devolved to its primordial pool. This filthy and fascinating movie is peering in, chemoreceptor crinkled and tummy churning, to spot what bubbles up.

Twelve-year-old Spike (Alfie Williams) doesn’t person immoderate memories of the Before. Raised connected an isolated isle, the personality-lite lad ended the past movie absconding to the mainland and nervously allying with a posse of track-suited, parkour-leaping, knife-slashing ruffians. Their leader, Jimmy (Jack O’Connell of “Sinners”), who prefers to spell by the rubric “Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal,” was himself lone 8 years aged erstwhile the chaos began, watching successful fearfulness arsenic his preacher begetter hailed the zombies arsenic God’s Judgment Day, welcoming them into religion and getting promptly gobbled.

Jimmy is present a Satanist. Boyle utilized him arsenic an amuse-bouche to get america excited to travel backmost for different installment. DaCosta grants america existent clip with Jimmy and his battalion of young disciples helium calls his “peeps,” his “Fingers” and his “Jimmies.” All 7 of them are named aft him: Jimmy Ink (Erin Kellyman), Jimmy Snake (Ghazi Al Ruffai) and truthful on, with the objection of a murderess successful fairy wings who prefers Jimmima (Emma Laird). Each wears barbarian-esque blonde wigs and masks made from spatchcocked Adidas sneakers, a fabulous interaction by the accumulation designers Carson McColl and Gareth Pugh, who besides handled the costumes. Instead of saying “Amen,” the Jimmies accidental “Howzat.”

Having ne'er been exposed to Ozzy Osbourne oregon immoderate of the modular popular taste demonic touchstones, these slayer kids person developed ceremonies rooted successful “The Teletubbies,” whose superior colored landscapes of writer and flowers look to person influenced the look of the film. Hilarious and chilling successful the aforesaid gasp, the Jimmies romp astir the countryside torturing radical successful the sanction of Old Nick, a 17th period word for the Devil, utilizing a acquainted strategy: Worship our savior oregon else.

The spiritual worldly is intriguing but it’s truthful underdeveloped that it comes crossed similar a put-on, the cult’s phony excuse for ultraviolence. We bash a spit-take erstwhile a fewer Jimmies aboriginal assertion to instrumentality it seriously. They haven’t travel crossed similar zealots — they’re Droogs — though erstwhile they die, DaCosta has each 1 shrink from precise scary to piteously small, sobbing successful fearfulness arsenic they recognize it’s each been a scam. Alas, the much absorbing Jimmies thin to get offed first. By the climax, we’re mostly near with the Jimmy dregs.

Does Jimmy himself judge what helium preaches? That’s the eternal question for galore religion leaders, adjacent ones with amended dental hygiene. Garland’s publication doesn’t rather marque him oregon anyone consciousness afloat realized. They’re each symbols of mankind’s basal tenets — spirituality, subject and the request for assemblage — and erstwhile they bump into each different successful the movie’s bizarre geography wherever everyone’s ignorant of who’s conscionable implicit the adjacent hill, they’re tense but funny astir gathering idiosyncratic who’s astatine erstwhile acquainted and not. The dialog is arsenic disarmingly earnest arsenic that betwixt 2 strangers snorting coke successful a bathroom.

If we lived successful a rational world, Fiennes’ bravura comic-manic show would gain him an Oscar nomination. His bully doc has spent the interim years erecting a croquembouche of skulls successful the Scottish Highlands ringed by towers of forearms and femurs. He calls the tract a “memento mori” and though his neolithic ancestors who besides erstwhile built unusual and beauteous monuments connected this onshore wouldn’t recognize Latin until the Romans invaded it successful 71 AD, they’d recognize the intent of honoring the deceased. (We drawback a glimpse of what mightiness beryllium Hadrian’s Wall, an earlier effort to support civilization from a marauding horde.)

Dr. Kelson is truthful lonely that he’s begun to befriend 1 of those spine-ripping alphas, whom helium calls Samson. Played by a 6-foot-8 erstwhile MMA combatant named Chi Lewis-Parry, gamely sporting a full-body prosthetic nude suit with a focus-pulling appendage, Samson isn’t tame — galore radical find that retired the hard mode — but helium tin beryllium lured to footwear backmost and bask a blowdart of morphine. When high, the movie becomes a giddy caput travel with hyper-sharp rustling leaves and drugged-out creation montages that play similar a “Trainspotting” pre-prequel. (A country acceptable to Iron Maiden whitethorn origin spontaneous combustion successful your theater.) The movie is pro-narcotics, astatine slightest for those suffering utmost circumstances, though with a 5th “28 Years Later” movie successful our future, there’s a accidental that the hangover is coming.

DaCosta’s aesthetic is much classical than Boyle’s. Though she began filming conscionable 3 weeks aft the erstwhile introduction wrapped, she’s changed up the benignant portion maintaining the mood, swapping the iPhone cameras for nonrecreational ones, the manic time-bending cuts for a dependable gait and the electronica people for strings. (Her caller cinematographer, exertion and composer hires are, respectively, Sean Bobbitt, Jake Roberts and Hildur Guðnadóttir.)

She embraces the deadpan absurdity, digging into the ideas with the gusto of Samson eating a man’s brains with his hands, portion acting afloat unrestrained by quibblers who mightiness instrumentality contented with Kelson’s libertine usage of lamps. In 1 dazzler of a scene, helium decorates his corpse piles similar a rom-com heroine who needs 8 twelve candles to instrumentality a bath.

DaCosta besides delights successful goosey leap scares (they’re each conscionable a large bang) and gory-great insert shots, similar a crow snacking connected a flayed face. She sets her code successful the archetypal decease country successful which a cult subordinate appears to beryllium spraying humor from his, uh, cult member. If that’s excessively overmuch for you, permission the theatre astatine that point. The bedewed works get grosser. But if you respect DaCosta’s brutality, delight bash ticker “Hedda,” her instrumentality connected Henrik Ibsen, which is getting a existent Oscar push. It’s not arsenic grisly, but it’s arsenic cruel.