Survival guide to the rage virus of “28 Years Later”
Summer 2025 has been taken over by the horror movie “28 Years Later,” here are the top 3 things to remember about the Rage virus before watching the newest installment of the “28 X Later” series this summer.
By Karla Pastrana
On Dec. 10, Sony Pictures Entertainment gave horror fans an early Christmas gift that ended the belief that the “28 X Later” series was over. After 18 years the series is getting its third installment known as “28 Years Later” (Years).
Immediately after the video dropped it was trending online for fans couldn’t believe that the most popular horror franchise was finally returning after many believed it was concluded in 2007 with “28 Weeks Later” (Weeks). This was thanks to the failure to materialize the original third installment “28 Months Later.”
The latter version was dropped when writer Alex Garland took on other obligations, taking up a large majority of his time, according to Inverse. However, it allowed him to realize that “Years” had more possibilities for the series than the previous installments for the time skip would be bigger than the time skip between “28 Days Later” (Days) and “Weeks”.
However, fans also believed the series was concluded due to the very limited information Garland and director Danny Boyle were given about the third installment. Many were fine with this due to the second movie ending being solid enough that it didn’t require a follow-up like the first movie. “Days” ends with the characters finding sanctuary in the countryside of Britain, but viewers are shown that the infected were dying and that the international forces are looking for survivors to help rebuild the fallen country. Giving viewers a happy ending that leaves many questions about the infected- could they still infect people as they die slowly?
While “Weeks” ends on a more conclusive note that is a bad ending for the virus breaks out of Britain and enters mainland Europe, signifying that what was once a quarantined virus in one country has become an international breakout, beginning a global zombie apocalypse. You don’t need to be a horror fan to conclude what is going to happen to the world order.
Yet here we are, waiting for June 20 to survive another round of the virus. Making it 18 years since the last installment. So, if you’re cramped down by finals or other things to binge the first two movies to get through the hoard of information, never fear! Here are the top three things you need to remember from the series before watching “Years.” Now buckle up because we’re speeding through this!
- Zombies?
The infected aren’t zombies because they aren’t really dead. The rage virus is like rabies, but if the viral disease impacts humans the same way it impacts animals, making them extremely violent.
Just like rabies, the infected can pass the disease via fluid or bite. When one gets bitten by a zombie, they get infected, as it’s the golden rule. In this series, characters need to be extra careful when killing the infected because if their blood enters their eye, mouth or open wound they are doomed. They even need to be careful with the dead infected as they can still get infected from touching them, as seen in “Days” when Frank gets a dead infected’s blood into his eye.
Most importantly, since the infected are basically sick humans, they can die from starvation as they need consumption. However, human blood isn’t nutritious, so of course they’re going to die, but they can also die from biochemical weapons like nerve gas, increasing the possibilities on how to defeat them but increasing the dangers for characters.
- Immunity
“Weeks” introduces the idea that people can be asymptomatic to the virus, meaning they live like the uninfected but can still infect people through bodily fluids which we see through Alice infecting Don via kiss. This ensured the second outbreak, however, the only people that can be asymptomatic are the people who carry the heterochromia gene, giving hope to a potential cure.
The only people that knew that sadly died, which means the chances of a cure or vaccine being created in “28 Years Later” is low. But also dialing up the dangers of the virus for anyone who doesn’t look infected could be infected and could accidentally infect those around them.
- RAGE!
Not everyone who shows rage is infected, but the desire to survive can make us violent. Like in every other apocalyptic story, characters also need to watch out for their fellow humans because when order and peace are shattered, people will do anything to survive. Of course, in a world full of infected people and people trapped in a consent fight-or-flight mentality, it becomes a bit hard to tell who is infected or not.
But also, who’s more dangerous, the infected who have no control over their violent instincts or the uninfected who will do anything like brutality killing someone with punches to save others and themselves? This is a question the first movie covers while the second doesn’t. However, the third movie hints that the series will be returning to what director Boyle saw “Days” as a reflection on social rage.
