Spoiler warning: We are discussing the entire movie, including that ending and the big returning character. If you haven’t watched it yet, this is your opportunity to run faster than somebody infected with the Rage Virus.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple taught me something very important:
Apparently, surviving a zombie apocalypse isn’t enough.
Now you have to survive religious cult leaders in tracksuits too.
Directed by Nia DaCosta and written by Alex Garland, The Bone Temple opened in U.S. theaters on January 16, 2026. The R-rated horror sequel runs 1 hour and 50 minutes and picks up directly after 28 Years Later. Ralph Fiennes returns as Dr. Ian Kelson, Alfie Williams as Spike, Jack O’Connell as Sir Jimmy Crystal, Erin Kellyman as Jimmy Ink and Chi Lewis-Parry as the Alpha infected known as Samson.
And somehow, with Britain still crawling with rage-infected people who can sprint like somebody just yelled “free groceries,” the humans manage to be worse.
Spike Has Joined the Worst Youth Group in Britain
When we last saw Spike, Jimmy Crystal and his bizarre gang of blonde-haired, tracksuit-wearing followers had rescued him from a pack of infected.
Well.
“Rescued” was doing some heavy lifting.
The Bone Temple quickly reveals what life with the Jimmies actually means. Spike is forced into a fight to the death as part of his initiation and gets renamed “Jimmy,” because apparently losing your identity is included in the membership fee.
Jimmy Crystal believes he’s the son of Satan, while his followers, the Fingers carry out his increasingly horrific commands.
And Jack O’Connell plays this man with exactly the kind of charisma that makes you understand how everybody ended up following him while simultaneously thinking:
Somebody needs to hit this man with a chair.
Meanwhile, Dr. Kelson Is Making Friends With an Infected Man
Then we have Dr. Kelson.
Sweet, strange, iodine covered Dr. Kelson.
While Jimmy is terrorizing survivors, Kelson has developed a very unusual relationship with Samson, the enormous Alpha infected from the previous movie.
Samson keeps returning to the Bone Temple to be sedated with Kelson’s morphine darts. Eventually, Kelson realizes Samson isn’t simply wandering back accidentally.
This man is basically showing up for his appointment.
Even more importantly, Samson begins displaying signs of humanity.
He wears clothes.
He eats differently.
He stops attacking Kelson.
And when Kelson considers euthanizing him because his drug supply is running low, Samson suddenly says:
“Moon.”
Sir?!
We’ve got WORDS?
Kelson begins to suspect that the Rage Virus might not have permanently destroyed the minds of the infected after all. He experiments with antipsychotic medication, and Samson begins recovering memories and speaking again.
That quietly becomes one of the most fascinating ideas in the entire franchise.
Maybe the infected aren’t gone.
Maybe they’re trapped inside there.
Jimmy Crystal Needs Several Kinds of Help
While Kelson is discovering possible hope for humanity, Jimmy Crystal is busy proving why humanity may not deserve it.
His gang raids a farm occupied by survivors, and what follows is brutal.
Jimmy believes he’s carrying out Satan’s will, and watching Spike become increasingly horrified by the Fingers makes it obvious that this boy has traded one nightmare for another.
Jimmy Ink also begins questioning their leader.
Then she spots Kelson.
Now remember: Kelson covers himself in iodine, so his skin has an unnatural reddish-orange color.
Jimmy Ink sees red Kelson hanging around an enormous infected man and concludes:
That’s Satan.
You know what?
Given everything else happening in this country, I understand how she got there.
Unfortunately, Jimmy Crystal realizes he can use this.
He approaches Kelson and essentially tells him:
You’re going to pretend to be Satan and confirm that I’m his son, or I’m going to kill you.
This brings us to one of the wildest scenes in the movie.
Dr. Kelson’s Heavy-Metal Satan Performance Deserves Its Own Award
Kelson decides that if he’s going to pretend to be Satan, he isn’t doing community theater.
He’s giving them a SHOW.
Fire.
Hallucinogens.
An inverted cross.
And Iron Maiden’s “The Number of the Beast.”
Ralph Fiennes dancing around the Bone Temple pretending to be Satan while a homicidal cult watches in awe is the sort of sentence I could not have predicted writing about a 28 Days Later sequel.
And yet here we are.
But Kelson isn’t simply playing along.
When he recognizes Spike among the Fingers, he flips Jimmy’s whole scheme against him.
Kelson announces that Satan wants Jimmy Crystal sacrificed.
Sir Jimmy had finally booked an appointment with the Devil, and the Devil said:
“Actually, bring me HIM.”
The Bone Temple Ending Explained
Jimmy realizes he’s losing control and fatally stabs Kelson.
That triggers chaos.
Spike stabs Jimmy.
Jimmy Ink turns against the remaining Fingers and kills them.
Then she and Spike put Jimmy Crystal on the inverted cross—the exact kind of theatrical punishment this man probably would’ve appreciated more if it were happening to somebody else.
Spike and Jimmy Ink, whose real name is Kellie, finally leave together.
But Kelson’s ending is the part that really got me.
Samson returns to the Bone Temple.
This huge infected man, who we once viewed as nothing but a monster, approaches the dying doctor and calls him by name.
Then he thanks him.
Kelson dies, and Samson carries his body away.
After all the screaming, blood and madness, one of the movie’s most human moments comes from someone infected with the Rage Virus.
That’s the point.
Jimmy considers himself enlightened while committing atrocities.
Samson is supposedly a monster yet relearns compassion.
Which one was actually infected with something worse?
And Then THAT Man Shows Up
The movie still has one surprise left.
Some time later, Spike and Kellie are being chased by infected.
Nearby, a man is helping his daughter study history.
That man?
Jim.
Cillian Murphy’s character from the original 28 Days Later is alive.
He has a daughter named Sam, and when they notice Spike and Kellie in danger, they decide to help them. Director Nia DaCosta confirmed that the ending intentionally reintroduces Jim and sets up the next chapter of the story.
Twenty-four years after 28 Days Later…
Cillian Murphy walked back into the apocalypse.
Okay.
NOW we’re cooking.
Horror Tea Verdict
The Bone Temple does something I wasn’t expecting.
It makes the infected almost secondary.
The real horror is Jimmy Crystal, a man who turns frightened survivors into followers and uses religion, violence and fear to control them.
Meanwhile, the supposedly monstrous Samson becomes more human.
Ralph Fiennes is fantastic, Jack O’Connell is wonderfully disturbing, and Nia DaCosta takes the world Danny Boyle established and makes it feel like her own movie rather than simply 28 Years Later Part Two.
Critics liked it too. Rotten Tomatoes currently lists The Bone Temple at 91% from about 350 reviews, with an 88% verified audience score.
Horror Tea Rating: ☕☕☕☕½ out of 5
Bloody, bizarre, surprisingly emotional and much smarter than a movie featuring Satan karaoke had any business being.
And now that Jim is back?
Somebody please get that man a bicycle.
We’ve got work to do.