Spoiler Warning: This article contains some spoilers for 28 Years Later.Danny Boyle and Alex Garland revolutionized the horror genre, specifically the zombie subgenre, 23 years ago with28 Days Later, which later evolved into a franchise and is now a trilogy, with more movies planned.28 Days Laterbecame the inspirationfor many zombie movies and shows made since its release because of its unique approach to a formulaic storyline.
With the premise of a viral outbreak that makes people behave like zombies,28 Days Laterdelves into the nature of good and evil in humans. It’s not entirely focused on the “zombie” apocalypse aspect, but itsuse of rapidly edited handheld shots, an energetic background score, and minimal and effective jump scareschanged how zombie movies are made.
28 Days Later’s opening scenesets up the outbreak of the rage virus, and theunderrated sequel,28 Weeks Later, adds to the lore about it from the previous movie. However, with minimal explanation and only some possible avenues of speculation, the latest sequel,28 Years Later, changes a key detail that undermines the Rage Virus as a concept.
The Infected Die Of Starvation In 28 Days Later And 28 Weeks Later
The Infection Kills Them
While28 Days Laterdoesn’t delve into the full details of the infection, it is revealed that anyone who gets infected by the Rage Virus loses their mind and only feels blinding, homicidal rage. However, while the research remains incomplete,an infected person in28 Days Laterwas being studied to see how slowly he starved to death.
28 Weeks Laterexplainsthings further and even reveals that Britain was assumed free of infection when there were no sightings of living infected people nine weeks after the first outbreak. It is assumed that they have all died from starvation. So, not only does the Rage virus make people lose their minds, it physically drains them too.
It is clear that the infected only feast on living humans who haven’t yet been infected.
While we don’t see any animals in the first two movies, it is clear that the infected only feast on living humans who haven’t yet been infected. That’s why the outbreak can be waited out, because they’ll eventually run out of food by infecting everyone who can’t escape. So, trying to avoid infection was a survival tactic beyond losing rationality.
There Should Be Negative Effects Of Rage Virus Infection Beyond Uncontrolled Anger
The Virus Has Some Positive Effects In 28 Years Later
28 Years Laterchanges horror genresand is a post-apocalyptic horror as opposed to disaster horror like its predecessors. The immediate negative consequence of this is the change in the way the Rage Virus operates. Instead of dying from starvation, the infected can now feast on wildlife and continue surviving 28 years after the second outbreak.
Among other retcons,28 Years Lateralso doesn’t address the possibility of a vaccine that is suggested in28 Weeks Later.
The second outbreak, which occurs in28 Weeks Later, starts with Alice, one of the only two people known to survive infection. While she shows symptoms, she is supposedly immune to the virus because of some genetic condition. It is possible that the virus released through her saliva was a different version, which would explain the situation in the sequel.
However, whatever the reason, which isn’t revealed in28 Years Later, the infected no longer die of starvation, andthe only negative effect of infection is the blinding rage that destroys one’s mind. There is even a throwaway line about the virus acting like a steroid for some of them, explaining the existence of the Alpha Infected.
Changing The Rage Virus Ignores Its Original Inspiration
The Ebola Virus Inspired Alex Garland And Danny Boyle
The Rage Virus in28 Days Laterwas inspired by the Ebola Virus, because the fear of Ebola was at an all-time high back when Alex Garland and Danny Boyle were developing the movie. They also didn’t want to make a typical zombie film, so they chose virus-infected people as the “zombies” for their story.
Combining the two motivations, the Rage Virus infection has symptoms similar to Ebola, like red eyes, internal and external hemorrhaging, and bleeding.28 Days Later: The Aftermath, a graphic novel which bridges the gap between28 Days Laterand28 Weeks Later, confirms thatthe Rage Virus was developed as a recombinant Ebola strainto function like a rage inhibitor.
The possible mutation of the Rage Virus in28 Years Later, which not only strengthens some of the infected, but also prevents them from dying of starvation, thus ignores the original inspiration. It was a missed opportunity to acknowledge viewers' experience of surviving the COVID-19 pandemic too, which would have followed the trend of basing the “zombies” on real experiences.
