Every ’28 Days Later’ Movie, Ranked

“His fear began when he woke up alone. His terror began when he realized he wasn’t.” The line kicked off a movie and set the tone for a franchise that’s been running on pure adrenaline ever since. And now, with The Bone Temple in theaters following its January 16, 2026, release, the series feels like it’s found its stride again. We’re not just revisiting old ground, but also watching the saga move forward and prove it still knows how to terrify fans.

These movies have always trusted momentum over noise. They cut scenes early, leave answers half-formed. They understand that fear does not need to be reinforced constantly. It just needs the right timing. This philosophy has separated the 28 Days franchise from the wave of imitators it inspired, and it’s the same approach that keeps the latest chapter from feeling performative. What makes the strongest installments in the horror genre endure is how deliberately they pull back.

Even as the scope of the franchise’s world has widened, the movies resist the temptation to overexplain, making sure the tension adds up instead of fizzing out. This ranking looks at every 28 Days Later movie through that POV. We’ll see how well each entry understands when to move, when to stop, and when to let silence do more damage than spectacle. With 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple now firmly part of the canon and already fueling debate about where the franchise goes next, it’s the perfect time to trace the beginning of it all.

’28 Weeks Later’ (2007)

Robert Carlyle running away from infected in 28 Weeks Later

Fox Atomic

Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s sequel picks up six months after the original outbreak and shifts the focus to reconstruction efforts in London under NATO control. The movie wastes no time reminding us that the rage virus isn’t gone. It is lurking, waiting for humans to make an error so it can unleash again. Robert Carlyle’s Don becomes the tragic centerpiece, and as a man torn between guilt and survival, his arc paves the way for a story that’s more about collapse than hope.

28 Weeks Later is the weakest entry in the franchise, but an impressive zombie flick nonetheless, mainly because it’s got ambition. Fresnadillo focuses on scale (with helicopters, quarantines, flame units), but still finds room for intimate terror, particularly in the middle stretch when containment is no longer steady. The infamous infrared-lit night chase remains one of the series’ most visually aggressive sequences. Compared to the others, it is messier, more volatile, and less restrained. Sometimes, this works to its benefit, sometimes not.

The reception was mixed but generally positive, with critics praising the intensity and Carlyle’s performance. It earned 73% on Rotten Tomatoes, and over time, the movie has gained appreciation as the franchise’s most brutal chapter because it’s effective in showing what happens when authority panics. Plus, the $72.3 million worldwide gross proves the appetite for this universe was far from gone.

’28 Years Later’ (2025)

Alfie Williams and Ralph Fiennes in 28 Years Later holding a skull

Danny Boyle and Alex Garland reunited for this legacy sequel, and the result was a movie that felt equal parts fresh and familiar. Time is the real antagonist here. Set nearly three decades after the Rage Virus first surfaced, 28 Years Later follows on a fortified island, with Jodie Comer and Aaron Taylor-Johnson leading a cast that explores what happens when isolation breeds new horrors. This time, the movie shifts its focus from the infected to the mutated world they left behind, as well as generational trauma and memory.

It’s quieter than you’d expect, but deliberately so. And this patience is rewarding at times. The pacing is measured, the structure episodic, and the horror often arrives sideways, in the form of abandoned rituals, broken communities, and the coexistence between the infected and the uninfected. Ralph Fiennes brings authority as a figure whose presence turns the narrative into something more mythic. Definitely not as clean as the other entries. 28 Years Later deserves credit for setting up the trilogy’s new arc.

Critically, 28 Years Later landed an 89% Rotten Tomatoes score, though audiences were more divided, with a 65% rating. Still, it broke franchise records for critical reception and pulled in strong box office numbers. Reviews highlighted Comer’s performance and Boyle’s return to zombie horror, noting how the franchise is growing in thoughtful ways.

’28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’ (2026)

Directed by Nia DaCosta, this direct continuation of 28 Years Later is where the franchise hit a new peak. Released on January 16, 2026, it centers on Ralph Fiennes’ Dr. Kelson and Jack O’Connell’s Jimmy Crystal, and explores the hysterical idea that the survivors can be more monstrous than the infected. The movie’s atmosphere is suffocating, with DaCosta’s unnerving direction turning every shadow into a nerve-racking threat.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple effectively balances old instincts and new ideas. At the same time, it balances gore and dread. The story isn’t just about the infected anymore. It’s about humanity fractured in all the wrong places, their cult-like survival tactics, and the moral rot that festers when an apocalypse stays for long. Performances are career-best: Fiennes is chilling, O’Connell breathtaking, and Alfie Williams is raw and energetic.

It’s the second-best movie in the franchise because it delivers the most polished production yet. The film’s stellar reception reflects the same. It debuted with a 93% Rotten Tomatoes score, the highest in the series, and audiences responded with enthusiasm. It’s already being hailed as one of the best horror sequels of the decade, and fortunately for fans, Sony has confirmed a third installment in the 28 Years Later saga is already in the works.

’28 Days Later’ (2002)

Cillian Murphy in a deserted London in 28 Days Later.

There is no contest. This is the one that started it all, and it’s still the best. Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later single-handedly renewed interest in zombie cinema in 2002. That opening stretch with Cillian Murphy’s Jim wandering through an empty London is burned into horror history because it’s so eerie and quiet, and then it descends into chaos once the infected enter the frame. Naomie Harris brings steel as Selena, Brendan Gleeson brings warmth as Frank, and Christopher Eccleston’s Major West twists the knife with military drama.

28 Days Later is basically a slow realization that the world has already ended, and no one rang an alarm. The movie is untouchable in a way. Boyle and Alex Garland knew that silence could be scarier than scares and screams, and Anthony Dod Mantle’s digital cinematography gave it all a gritty, documentary-like edge that made every moment feel real. John Murphy’s score (especially “In the House – In a Heartbeat”) is pure adrenaline.

The movie clearly deserves the top spot because it changed the genre. Everything that came after owes it a huge debt. Critics and audiences agreed back then, and they still do now. Sitting at 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, it drew appreciation for its political bite, Boyle’s stripped-down style, and Murphy’s performance. Two decades later, it’s the entry fans return to, the one that made “fast zombies” a thing, and the one that proved horror could have a heartbeat.

Our list is locked… for now. Think we nailed it, or did we miss the mark? Where would you place 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple?