The last final minutes of 28 Years Later is the most British a major blockbuster has got since the first fifteen minutes, which flashbacks to the initial zombie outbreak; a ravaged family watching Teletubbies, and the end of the world. Or – the end of the UK as we know it – in quarantine with the outbreak contained the rest of the world are continuing living normal lives; whilst the British survivors are plunged into a post-apocalyptic, dystopian hellhole. Think The Walking Dead, but good. Think A Quiet Place Day One, but better. This sequel to 28 Days Later is set in the same world but doesn’t use any of the same characters and barely any of the same plot. Instead – Boyle introduces us to Spike, a boy on a small island community off the coast of the UK – and his first mission out into the mainland in search of his first kill.

28 Days Later was about the initial horror of the zombie apocalypse; the panic and the unknown and how quickly humanity could fall. This is more about what happens to humanity since; those that stay trapped in the past, how they remember their dead – and where they go from there. It’s proper messed up Boyle drama – Ralph Fiennnes is fantastic in form as ever; and delivers an appropriately menacing threat where you’re not sure he’s the villain or not. The stakes are high – there are more than just the good guys and the bad guys – everyone has gone through hell and everyone is just trying to survive. These characters feel like who Ellie and Joel would meet in The Last of Us but with more nuance. Spike – played by the brilliant Alfie Williams in one of this year’s best performances – journeys into the dark heart of the mainland with his mother, Jodie Comer’s Isla – but first must face the evolution of the zombies to get to his goal.

The zombies are fast now; and appropriately terrifying. The digital technology and the unlicensed stealth shooting at dawn gave 28 Days Later a fantastic unique, revolutionary feel in London and the fierce filmmaking that was all over the brash; raw energy of 28 Days Later – it’s not exactly subtle to say that the decision to keep the rest of the world normal was a Brexit allegory taken to the extremes and the prevailing themes that run through this film are the influence and the weaponisation of nostalgia – just from the off you see what happens when children spend too much time watching television – and the encounters between the old world and the new feel very much like a complete clash of styles – it’s like dropping someone from the 21st century into the medieval era – so little has society evolved; and the next generation have no knowledge of what was ‘before’ – only ‘after’. Those that left behind are old enough to remember what the world was before shape and change their views – and we get to see the school system at the heart of this new society reflect that.

The folk horror influences are everywhere; as well as the little-England satire that pokes fun at those who would look inward rather than outward at the rest of the world – it’s about the mythmaking and the storytelling that we tell ourselves, the stand-in for the post-Blitz nostalgia and the secluded aesthetic.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Jamie plays a key role in the first act as Spike’s father, but it’s fascinating to watch Williams grow and evolve as an actor before our eyes – the opening scenes where he’s first brave enough to stand up to Spike are fascinating. Hearing the rumours of Ralph Fiennes’ Doctor living on the mainland – whose reputation is viewed as him having lost it for burning corpses – the growth is transformative for him. He has hope now – hope that he can save his mother. His reaction to seeing the mainland is believable and Williams is absolutely outstanding across every scene here – a real tour-de-force that you’d be hard pressed not to overlook in the Oscar race at the end of the year. There are daring decisions across the board – Boyle never shies away from making choices that would give Star Wars fans a heart attack; risk-taking and daring at every time – shot on iPhones to create an intense digital-camcorder look of old, and ferocious in its approach at doing so – the chase scenes are stark, gripping and no holds barred.

As a character study and evolution 28 Years Later keeps the scares – the train sequence is a fantastic bit of tension and the opening montage of Spike and Jamie going out onto the mainland is set perfectly to Young Fathers’ terrific score – one of the best of the year; and one of the best of the decade – the band put on a show live and seeing them transition to stuff like Boots creates the tension perfectly and the montage deployed with real-world soldiers in training throughout history in conjunction with clips of famous films airs to a nostalgic feel that can’t help but be ignored. There are also funny moments too – Spike’s reaction to Eric’s girlfriend is a particular highlight; for context of which I won’t spoil here – and the film pushes the boundaries of need to understand British culture in major films to get the most out of 28 Years Later – it’s basic references that will fly over the heads of most Americans; but the final odd 20 minutes is the biggest curveball I’ve seen in a major blockbuster since; I want to say at least The Mist?

Give me a Young Fathers live in concert screening of 28 Years Later, give me the sequel, give me more Danny Boyle – the hyperkinetic filmmaker is back and this is one of the best movies he’s made so far in his career. The Garland/Boyle combination is firing on all cylinders again – and we were all the poorer without it.