28 Years Later, which follows 2002’s 28 Days Later and 2007’s 28 Weeks Later, is also the first title in a new trilogy of zombie movies. The first was directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland; the pair have reunited for the latest film, which will be released in theaters June 20. They’ve already collaborated the second installment, too, which is produced by Boyle, written by Garland, and directed by Nia DaCosta. “For the third, we’re looking for funding, in case anyone wants to help us out,” Boyle joked slyly while presenting the film in Rome this week.
“It took time before I got back into the world of 28 Days Later,” he added, explaining his long absence from the franchise. “It’s a film that’s still very much seen and loved, but we decided with Alex that we would only work on it again if he had a strong idea.” In the end, Boyle said, there were just “two things we absolutely wanted to include: Brexit and the Teletubbies.”
The British children’s show opens 28 Years Later, which soon takes us to an island where a small community lives separate from the monstrous creatures introduced in the previous films. The cast includes Jodie Comer and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as a married couple, and screen newcomer Alfie Williams as their son, Spike. “Spike’s journey is the journey of the film itself,” said Boyle. “We wanted to make a horror film, but also talk about family and the changes it can undergo even on a collective level.” Taylor-Johnson’s character wants his son to follow in his footsteps, exhibiting “the mindset of 1950s England, where men and women had separate roles.” The retrenchment of old-fashioned values was inspired by Brexit, Boyle said. Spike exits that conservative society to find his own way, “which, in the film, represents progress.”
Boyle heaped praise on Williams, noting how young actors seem especially well prepared for the challenge of filmmaking these days. “It’s amazing how acting has changed among the very young actors,” he said. “I think it was the effect of the Harry Potter saga. Seeing those movies made them say, ‘why can’t I do it too?’” He spoke too about not wanting to replicate the deserted London of 28 Days Later, which feels different in a post-Covid world. “Covid forced us to change our horizon,” he said. In this film, too, people are also grappling with a deadly virus. “After so many years, the survivors are not just hiding from it, but are risk-seeking.”
The virus at the center of the 28 Years films enrages its victims—echoing the effect technology can have on users in the real world. But Boyle also relied heavily on that technology while making the film.
“We used a lot of iPhones,” the director said. “Also a lot of light cameras. We didn’t want anything heavy, since we had to move within beautiful nature. That’s why we also used a variety of drones: we would send the actors into the scene and then film them with those.” Boyle’s intention was to find something that was visually new: “The first film was made entirely in digital, and was the first of that genre to have wide distribution. Over time, technology has evolved. Now even your phone can shoot in 4K. So we experimented, although we ran into several problems. With the crew, it was complicated. A director can make a film every two or three years. Crews are on sets all the time, so it’s normal to settle on formulas that you already know and are proven.
“We presented the crew with challenges, destabilizing them at times. It has been challenging to fight this resistance to change—which may not produce perfection. But that is not what we are interested in either. We look for what’s in between, in the cracks.”
Asked to name the real monsters society faces today, Boyle answered, “I can only speak only about my own country, but I think we are realizing more and more every day that there is a lack of real figures of resistance among our leaders. There is a lack of people who can be an inspiration and send us forward. There was a time when people believed that artificial intelligence could become a reference, but they soon realized that the business opportunities it offers often come at the expense of freedom. So if I had to say who I believe in right now, I would answer the BBC. It has no owners, no shareholders, and it is a reality check on every image and news story before publishing it—from what Trump claims to the nefariousness of Russian politics.”
Original story in VF Italy.
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