Film Review - 28 Days Later

 

Film Title: 28 Days Later

Year of Production: 2002

Director: Danny Boyle

Genre(s): Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Brief Plot Outline: 28 days after a disastrous freedom act at an animal testing facility, bicycle courier Jim (Cillian Murphy) awakes in an abandoned hospital. After exploring an eerily empty London, Jim learns that a virus has swept across Great Britain, and possibly the world, which sends the infected into an uncontrollable rage. Teaming up with Selena (Naomi Harris), Frank (Brendon Gleeson) and Hannah (Megan Burns), they must work together to survive. Hope lies in the promise of salvation from Major Henry West (Christopher Eccleston) and his soldiers, but not all is as it seems and salvation may be just as damning as the hell outside.

Which two Scenes impressed you the most? Why?:  The horde of rats fleeing from both the city and the infected. This scene adds psychological horror to this film, as the audience see’s rats, which are commonly seen as vermin who thrive in deplorable conditions, running away from the infected. This shows that the infected are worse vermin than the rats, because the rats themselves are scared and don’t want to be near the infected. It also shows us that nothing can escape this terrible virus, be they human or animal.

When Jim fights the soldiers. The use of motivated lighting and chiaroscuro in this scene highlights the desperation of the soldiers and their panic, with the darkness representing both their evil-ness and their perpetual deaths. The calm music, which is both creepy and soothing, acts as a form of pathetic fallacy; it seems to reflect Jim’s state of mind in that fact that he knows he has to kill the soldiers and rescue Selena and Hannah and he is prepared to do so.

How has watching this film helped you understand this genre of film making? Which features on this genre check list did you spot in the film? When? How?:

Blood and Gore – All of the infected have costumes and make-up which enforce their ‘zombie’-look. This gore is used to frighten the audience and to show that the infected are not fully human.

Restricted Narration – In the opening sequence, we see the female activist opening a cage to release an ape. This ape charges and attacks the woman, but the camera cuts away just before the attack.

Female Survivor – Selena can be seen as a female as she is quite masculine with her hairstyle, cut short, and her clothing, rugged coats, shirts, trousers etc. Also, she is placed in many dangerous situations through-out the film, in which she shows she is powerful by defending herself from both the infected and the soldiers. While Selena could also be seen as a final girl, Hannah is more of a final girl in this film, as she is ‘purer’ in the sense that she does not out-right physically kill anyone or have sex.

Sexism Towards Women – When the soldiers reveal their darker natures, they treat Selena and Hannah as objects for their own pleasure and not like people.

What aspects of the film would you like to INCLUDE in your own trailer?:

Strong characters regardless of gender, race or age – In many horror films, we see male characters as the strongest, most important characters and female characters as weaker and less important. However, in this film, we have strong male characters and strong female characters, in the forms of Jim and Selena. Another horror movie ‘trope’, as it were, is that non-white characters often die or are portrayed as weaker than their white counterparts. However, this film again defies conventions with Selena, a non-white character who is most definitely powerful and survives until the end. We also see a strong child/young character in Hannah when she reverses the taxi so Major Henry West is attacked and dragged off by the infected. She then rescues Jim and Selena by crashing through the gates and driving off to freedom.

What aspects of the film would you like to AVOID in your own trailer?:

‘Zombies’ – whilst the monster in this film are not strictly zombies, they hold many common conventions with the common zombie, including infection and biting humans. I would wish to avoid using zombies of any form in my trailer as zombies are grossly overdone in the horror genre. Also, many zombie movies are nothing more than cheap gore-filled films with no focus on plot or character. However, if zombies could be used in an interesting and non-generic manner, I would consider using them.

What was the best aspect/more enjoyable moment in the film? Why? Can you recreate this in your own film? How?:

The most enjoyable aspect of this film was how the ‘male hero’ was not strong and ‘all-powerful’ straight from the start of the film. Often in horror films, the male hero character is shown as the pinnacle of strength and athleticism, holding the group together and rescuing the female characters whenever the inevitably end up in danger. However, in this film, Jim, the male hero, did not start off as all powerful or as the strongest. Instead, he started off weak and gradually developed into a strong character. Similarly, he did not become the single most powerful character just because he is male, instead all of the characters are equally powerful by the end of the film. I will attempt to recreate this in my trailer by having a male hero character who shows weakness and by having female and other non-male hero characters be shown as equally strong and weak.

How does this film show the influence of its ‘auteur’ director? How does it show the director’s filmmaking style and soul? Give examples of three scenes from the movie that show their auteur style:

Male Protagonist – Danny Boyle, the director of this film, almost always uses male protagonists. 28 Days Later is no exception with Jim as it male protagonist. Also a recurring figure is the strong, female character who works alongside the male protagonist; in this case it is Selena.

Choice – Another prominent feature in Danny Boyle’s films is the presence of choice. Characters are faced with making a choice(s) which generates hard-hitting consequences. One example of this is in 127 Hours (2010) in which the lead character has to choose whether to amputate his own arm or to die. In 28 Days Later, there are several small choices for characters to make, such as when Selena chooses to be cold-hearted and logical instead of kind and sentimental when Mark becomes infected. The main choice, however, is when Selena and Jim must choose whether to continue on by themselves or whether to partner up with Frank and Hannah and head to the ‘army’ blockade. This choice again relies on Selena who must choose whether to stay cold and harsh and not partner up, meaning she does not have to care for Frank and Hannah and therefore worry about their wellbeing, or whether to partner up and become nicer and kind-hearted, receiving friendship and strength from the two newcomers.

Left Wing Politics – Danny Boyle hold very left-wing political views and these are often shown in his films. In this film, we have the army soldiers, the remnants of authority, representing the right wing. Jim, Selena and Hannah represent the left wing, downtrodden and working-class, struggling to survive in a world set out to kill them and against an authority trying to abuse them. As is often prevalent in Danny Boyle films, the left wing characters triumph over the right wing authority.