Masterpiece Cinema - 28 Days Later...

28 Days Later

Starring Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson, Megan Burns, Christopher Eccleston.
Written by Alex Garland.
Directed by Danny Boyle.
Genre: Action / Horror
Released: 2002
Running time: 113 min.
Rated: R (American rating for strong violence and gore, language and nudity).
IMDb link: http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0289043/

I've never been much of a horror fan myself, but every now and then I'll catch a film from the goriest of genres that really grabs my attention and earns a special place in my (still beating) heart. I knew very little about 28 Days Later when I went to see it. I knew it was directed by Danny Boyle, the man behind one of my favourite films, Trainspotting. I also knew it was a quasi-zombie film, and that the image being used to promote the film was of Cillian Murphy, dressed in hospital gown, standing alone in the middle of London, not a single other person to be seen. So when I sat down to watch the film, I had a fair idea of what to expectbut all that got blown away pretty quickly.

28 Days Later tells the story of Jim (Murphy) who wakes up in a hospital bed after having been hit by a car while he was working as a bicycle messenger. Getting up, he investigates the hospital to find that theres not a single person there. No one. Hungry, he smashes open a vending machine and steals some food, before wandering outside into the streets of London, where once again, he finds no one. The city echoes with its emptiness.

As Jim explores the city, he slowly starts to come to the realization that something terrible has happened. Newspapers declare an epidemic has fallen upon England. But this is much more than any kind of sickness that anyone has ever seen before, and it means the end of the world if it spreads.

I think I'll leave the plot description there, because with just about any film, knowing too much before watching it can ruin it for you. I know my hyping of this film to friends set them up for disappointment when they eventually saw it. That said, I highly recommend it. Boyle is an amazing director - a real talent to keep an eye on, and he delivers some beautiful images in this film, as well as some terrifying ones. The real strength I think, though, lies in Alex Garlands script.

Garland, whod never written a screenplay before this one, references a number of other films and ideas in his story: The Day of the Triffids, Romeros Dead films, The Omega Man, and Stephen Kings The Stand. He uses the strongest concepts from these stories to make whats sort of the penultimate zombie film which, ironically, isnt even about zombies, technically.

The cast is incredibly strong, dedicating themselves totally to what must have been a very gruelling film to work on. Its easy to see why Murphy was such a strong contender for the Batman role with the intensity that he exudes in this film; hes both sympathetic and terrifying all at the same time. The other standout is Naomie Harris, who plays Selena, a fellow survivor of the epidemic and a woman whos learnt a fiery sense of ruthlessness in the face of the worlds end. Focusing on only these two performers, however, is to ignore the rest of the cast, who all take this material and really, really make it work.

28 Days Later isnt a film to be watched lightly. Its something you sit down with in a dark room, staring intensely at the screen from the moment it starts to the last name rolls in the final credits. Its grisly, its unrelenting, but its also completely entertaining.

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