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“28 Years Later” is the starting signal for a new trilogy for a film series that was actually not a real franchise at all and yet has literally revived the zombie genre. Danny Boyle started in 2002 with “28 Days Later”. Five years later, “28 Weeks Later” was a kind of sequel, but with new staff.
This also applies to “28 Years Later” – which is why you don’t necessarily have to see the other two films. But at least in basic features you should know about the so-called rage virus that is at the center of the plot and made the mainland of Great Britain a strictly sealed biotope for zombiewsen.
What is the rage virus?
The rage virus is an extremely aggressive pathogen that transforms people into hyperaggressive beings within seconds. The infected are not undead like zombies, but organically alive – they are driven by uncontrollable anger. The virus is transmitted through body fluids, especially blood. A single drop is enough to infect someone.
How did the rage virus come about?
An animal experiment is the origin of the rage virus’. In a British laboratory, a virus was tested on chimpanzees to trigger “rage” – with the aim of specifically researching aggression. Animal rights activists unsuspecting the test animals, even though they are warned by a scientist. On the first contact with the infected chimpanzees, one of the activists is immediately bitten – the virus begins to spread rapidly quickly.
What are the consequences of spreading the rage virus?
The London area collapses within a few days, then all of the Great Britain. Civilization in the country collapses. There are no longer any communication networks, the military, police and politicians are powerless. The infected storms through cities like a force of nature. They have no goal, are only driven by blind, unfathomable anger.
28 days after the outbreak, Jim (played by Cilian Murphy) in “28 Days Later” wakes up from a coma, alone in an apparently completely empty world. The international community, including NATO, isolated Great Britain to prevent further spread. Most infected people finally die of hunger, dehydration or exhaustion.
Why does the reconstruction fail after the outbreak?
After the apparent subscription to the epidemic, “28 Weeks Later” begins to try to free yourself. A safe zone is created in London, monitored by US military. Survivors are allowed back. Because the rage virus slumbers in a woman who shows no symptoms, there is a new outbreak when she infected another person. The renewed outbreak is even more brutal because the rage virus can now rage within the protected walls. The military tries to wipe out entire population groups out of despair, but it is clear that the virus has also spread to the European mainland.
What about the rage virus in “28 Years Later”?
In “28 Years Later”, the United Kingdom is faced with the consequences of rage pandemic after almost three decades. The virus has changed and developed over time. There are different forms of infected. Great Britain is still shaped by the effects of the epidemic. Modern society has collapsed.
In the face of the ongoing threat, communities have formed on individual islands around the mainland, which live in quasi-medieval conditions. Great Britain is under a quarantine that is strictly monitored by the international community. Nobody is allowed to get out of the zone, is killed immediately in an attempt. Anyone who enters the infected territory is also not saved.