28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is a 2026 post-apocalyptic horror film directed by Nia DaCosta and written by Alex Garland. It is the fourth in the 28 Days Later film series, and was shot back-to-back with its predecessor, 28 Years Later. It stars Ralph Fiennes, Jack O'Connell, Alfie Williams, Erin Kellyman, and Chi Lewis-Parry.
The Bone Temple was released by Sony Pictures Releasing through its Columbia Pictures label in the United Kingdom on 13 January 2026, as part of a double bill with 28 Years Later. It received a separate release the following day and was released in the United States on 16 January. It received generally positive reviews.
Plot
After being rescued by the Fingers, a gang of fighters led by the zealous Satanist "Sir Lord" Jimmy Crystal, Spike is forced to kill Jimmy Shite in a death match as an initiation. Sir Jimmy renames the boy "Jimmy" to match the other Fingers, who include the more empathetic Jimmy Ink and the sadistic Jimmima.Dr Ian Kelson continues to build up the Bone Temple, an ossuary for those killed in the rage virus epidemic, while the Alpha Infected, Samson, repeatedly visits him. Kelson deduces that Samson is becoming addicted to the morphine from his blowgun: Samson no longer attacks Kelson, and his humanity resurfaces as he dresses himself and the two develop a friendship. Running low on sedatives, Kelson prepares to euthanise Samson, but is overjoyed to observe him articulating the word "moon", suggesting that the rage virus may be treatable.
The Fingers raid a farm inhabited by survivors, including Tom and his pregnant partner, Cathy. In a barn, Cathy hides as Sir Jimmy orders the Fingers to skin the captured survivors alive as a sacrifice to Old Nick, believing that Satan is his father and hearing his voice in his head. When Spike goes outside, sickened, Jimmy Ink, who is growing disillusioned with Sir Jimmy, takes pity on him. Sir Jimmy offers Tom a place in the gang if he can win a death match against a Finger, but Tom is quickly outmatched by his chosen opponent, Jimmima. Cathy breaks her cover to kill Jimmima. Tom sets the barn on fire with a gas tank, killing Jimmy, and burning several others before being killed. Sir Jimmy sends Spike to capture Cathy, but Spike begs her to take him with her. Instead, Cathy incapacitates him and escapes.
With the gang's numbers and morale low, Sir Jimmy threatens to kill Spike for his failure to capture Cathy, but Ink suggests that they visit Kelson—whom she assumes is Satan, having observed his reddish skin and his interactions with the ‘demon’ Samson—and let him decide Spike's fate. Sir Jimmy leads the gang to the Bone Temple, where he meets Kelson alone. Upon discovering Kelson is not Satan, Sir Jimmy threatens to kill him if he does not pose as Satan and substantiate Sir Jimmy's leadership over the Fingers.
The next morning, Spike tries to leave Sir Jimmy's camp but is confronted by Jimmy Fox, who attempts to kill him to avenge Jimmy Shite's death. Ink intervenes and kills Fox. She brings Spike back, claiming to Sir Jimmy that Fox fled out of fear of Satan and she was forced to kill him in self-defence. Kelson fears that his research on Samson will be cut short and, in a premature attempt to grant him peace, administers him a cocktail of antipsychotics, hypothesising that the rage virus causes aggression indirectly via psychotic hallucinations. Experiencing some clarity, Samson visits the abandoned train where he was infected and hallucinates a childhood memory of a guard asking for his ticket. After he once again produces speech, a nearby pack of infected attack him as if he were uninfected.
That night, Kelson complies with Sir Jimmy's demands, impersonating Satan in a pyrotechnic-laden performance of Iron Maiden's The Number of the Beast while exposing the gang to hallucinogens. Upon recognising Spike, however, Kelson betrays Sir Jimmy by ordering the Fingers to crucify him. As Ink turns on him, Sir Jimmy fatally stabs Kelson in desperation, and Ink is forced to fight and kill Jimmy Snake and Jimmy Jones. Spike then stabs Sir Jimmy in the side. He comforts the dying Kelson as Ink crucifies Sir Jimmy on an inverted cross. Spike and Ink—who reveals her real name to be Kelly—leave for the wilderness. Samson arrives, taken to be Satan by Sir Jimmy; he greets the dying Kelson by name and thanks him, subsequently carrying his body away. Sir Jimmy is attacked by an infected.
Some time later, Kelly and Spike are attempting to escape a group of infected, unaware that they are observed by Jim, and his teenage daughter Sam, who break off a history lesson about postwar remembrance to go to their aid.
Cast
- Ralph Fiennes as Dr Ian Kelson, a former GP dedicated to memorialising the victims of the epidemic.
- Jack O'Connell as Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal, a psychopathic gang leader who styles himself after Jimmy Savile.
- Alfie Williams as Spike, a teenager who is on a personal quest on the mainland.
- Erin Kellyman as Jimmy Ink / Kelly, one of the Fingers, who befriends Spike.
- Chi Lewis-Parry as 'Samson', a physically imposing Alpha leader of the infected.
- Emma Laird as Jimmima, one of the Fingers.
- Sam Locke as Jimmy Fox, one of the Fingers.
- Robert Rhodes as Jimmy Jimmy, one of the Fingers.
- Ghazi Al Ruffai as Jimmy Snake, one of the Fingers.
- Maura Bird as Jimmy Jones, one of the Fingers.
- Connor Newall as Jimmy Shite, one of the Fingers.
- Louis Ashbourne Serkis as Tom, a male survivor.
- Mirren Mack as Cathy, a pregnant survivor.
- David Sterne as George, a male survivor.
Production
Development
In April 2024, a sequel to 28 Years Later was reportedly in development, with Nia DaCosta in talks to direct, taking over from Danny Boyle, and Alex Garland returning to write the screenplay. In June 2024, via a copyright filing, the title was seemingly revealed as 28 Years Later Part II: The Bone Temple.Feeling "protective of the legacy" of the franchise, Nia DaCosta's pitch was to avoid copying Danny Boyle's directorial style to instead create a personal and idiosyncratic work, and requested Alex Garland have more infected added to the script. Though Boyle and Garland oversaw the film, they allowed DaCosta creative freedom and did not interfere with her directing process. In December 2024, Aaron Taylor-Johnson said his character would not return for this film. DaCosta collaborated with Boyle in creating the character Samson during the development of the previous film, as the character features prominently in The Bone Temple.
The sequel continued collaborations with key production partners from the previous film: produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Decibel Films and DNA Films, distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, and executive producers including Danny Boyle, Andrew Macdonald, Peter Rice, and Bernie Bellew. TSG Entertainment covered half of the $63 million net budget, of which a collective $15 million went to Danny Boyle, Alex Garland, and producer Peter Rice, while Sony spent an additional $70 million on marketing.
Ralph Fiennes said the film explores themes juxtaposing human violence with innate humanity amid brutality and the infected. DaCosta stated that while the theme of the previous film was about the nature of family, The Bone Temple would be about the nature of evil, which would lead the next film to be about the nature of redemption.
Filming
began on 19 August 2024, with Sean Bobbitt serving as cinematographer, replacing Anthony Dod Mantle from the previous film. As filming began approximately three weeks after the completion of the preceding film, production required logistical coordination due to overlapping characters and locations, including casting decisions for characters appearing in both films. In September 2024, Cillian Murphy was spotted filming in Ennerdale, Cumbria with a crew reportedly attached. The Bone Temple set was constructed in Redmire, North Yorkshire and the opening scene set in an abandoned leisure centre was filmed at the Richard Dunn Sports Centre in Bradford which has been closed since 2019.According to Ralph Fiennes, while Danny Boyle's direction in the preceding film was instinctive and fast-paced with a clear vision of desired moments, Nia DaCosta's approach was more deliberate and meticulous, particularly in close-up shots, allowing actors additional time to develop subtle aspects of their performances. In contrast to the previous film being filmed on iPhone 15 Pro cameras, The Bone Temple was filmed using the Arri Alexa 35 digital camera.
Chi Lewis-Parry reprised his role as the Alpha infected Samson, portraying the character as having a more subdued demeanour due to frequent sedation by Fiennes's Dr Ian Kelson. A scene in which Dr Kelson and Samson dance to Duran Duran's Rio was not part of the original script but instead was improvised during filming. To portray Samson, Chi Lewis-Parry wore a full-body prosthetic body suit. Each suit took seven artists six to eight hours to apply and could only be used once, so the process had to be repeated more than 25 times during filming. For close-up or waist-up shots, simpler partial prosthetics were used.