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- Critics praise the film’s bold, bloody, and unsettling return to the franchise.
- Nia DaCosta’s unnerving direction elevates the sequel beyond standard horror tropes.
- Ralph Fiennes provides a riveting, total performance as the unsettling Dr. Kelson.
- Jack O’Connell earns high praise for his masterfully villainous and fiendish allure.
- The haunting score receives acclaim despite split opinions on the plot’s progression.
Twenty years after Danny Boyle rewired the zombie genre, the Rage Virus is back, and critics reckon it’s meaner than ever. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple has landed with a wave of strong reviews, with most agreeing this instalment isn’t content on lazily extending the story. It’s leaning into discomfort, and one that seems pretty comfortable, making us squirm from beginning to end.
Rotten Tomatoes has it Certified Fresh at 94 per cent (at the time of publishing), based on more than 90 critic reviews—and the Top Critics aren’t far behind. While Metacritic sits lower at 80, once you look past the scores, it’s clear the film is connecting on some level, even if it may not be to everyone’s taste.
The Critics Consensus from Rotten Tomatoes says that beyond the gore and deepening dread, the movie is “finely adorned by Nia DaCosta’s unnerving direction”. Cycle through a few more reviews, and it’s clear that this feels like DaCosta’s film rather than a sequel on autopilot. Bloody Disgusting reckons the story has pushed into “darker, grislier, funnier, and more poignant territory.” Jesse Hassenger at AV Club notes that it’s “a neat surprise” how much dark humour she extracts from the series, taking things further than even Danny Boyle managed.
What are the Critics Saying About 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple?
Runtime: 109 minutes
Release date: 16 January 2026
Director: Nia DaCosta
Screenplay: Alex Garland
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Jack O’Connell, Alfie Williams, Erin Kellyman
But even jokes in the face of death don’t take away from the “bolder and bloodier” tone of this “more-than-worthy sequel,” says Empire.
That’s where Dr Ian Kelson starts looming over the film. If DaCosta sets the tone, then Ralph Fiennes is the presence critics can’t stop talking about. Equal parts unsettling and overwhelming, the London Evening Standard says the “Fiennes’ Dr Kelson is so compelling that spending more time with the tragic final doctor in the land of the sick and the dead is entirely welcome.” The Times (UK) go so far as to say his “commitment is so total” that the film feels more like “a riveting and vivacious one-man West End show.”
But if you ask the San Francisco Chronicle, even with Fiennes at the centre, The Bone Temple “simply doesn’t have the solid storytelling or enthralling characters that its predecessor has.” To that we say, “to each their own.”
What Do They Say About Jack O’Connell?
Which brings us to Jack O’Connell, who critics broadly agree brings a different kind of menace altogether. The Daily Telegraph (UK) describes Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal as having a “Jack Nicholson-esque fiendish allure,” right down to an “impressively specific Fife accent.” But none were more complimentary than the Independent, calling it “another masterfully villainous performance off the back of last year’s Sinners,” adding that “he understands what’s needed to make a vastly complex and elementally evil character like this work.”
The score also earns a clear nod from critics. The Hollywood Reporter calls it the film’s “standout craft element,” praising Hildur Guðnadóttir’s horror score for ranging “from solemn, quasi-ecclesiastical passages to gut-churning, droning soundscapes.” And in between those compositions is an equally horrifying collection of music, including Iron Maiden’s The Number of the Beast, Duran Duran and Radiohead, each tune filtering through Dr Kelson’s hand-cranked turntable and his fractured state of mind.
Where Were the Critics Split?
Where critics tend to split isn’t on the craft, but on what kind of film The Bone Temple wants to be. The Globe and Mail describes it as “an ambitious and compelling enough staging ground,” suggesting it’s very much biding its time as it sets up the final chapter. The Irish Times lands in a similar place, calling it “a trivial, if entertaining, diversion on the way to a more substantial closing fall.” And while some may enjoy the uneasy feeling that comes from what is essentially the middle act of a new trilogy. Others may leave the cinema wondering if they can be bothered tying up the loose ends.
But if you ask Man of Many‘s own Rob Edwards, the verdict is much simpler. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is “a mesmerising cinematic cocktail that’s self-assuredly weird, wince-inducingly horrific, and surprisingly funny.” Despite not being a fan of 2025’s 28 Years Later, Rob says this one “far surpasses” it and is a genuine contender for the best film in the franchise.
He points to Jack O’Connell’s “mesmerising” turn as the leader of a vicious, deeply unsettling gang of Jimmy Savile lookalikes, alongside Ralph Fiennes’ unexpectedly tender subplot with one of the hyper-violent infected.
It’s a film that takes big swings, and according to Rob, knocks most of them out of the park.
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