Review: '28 Years Later: The Bone Temple' rattles the cage with its zombie energy, but director Nia DaCosta brings out her cast's best in the quiet moments

With “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” director Nia DaCosta jumps into the hellscape that Danny Boyle and Alex Garland have created with the frenetic zombie franchise — and finds her own vein of terror and deep emotion.

This thriller starts where “28 Years Later” left off, with young Spike (Alfie Williams) alone in the woods of England, trying to avoid The Infected, the ravenous flesh-eaters who have succumbed to the contagious virus that has hit much of the human population. He has left behind Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), the kindly physician who spends his days studying The Infected and processing the bones of their victims to create a massive memorial out of skulls and femurs. 

DaCosta, working off a Garland script, toggles between two stories. In one, Spike has reluctantly joined a pack of young survivors, led by the self-named Sir Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell), who tells his teen followers that he’s the son of Satan and will lead them to destroy everyone who’s not them. (American fans may not pick up on the morbid joke that Sir Jimmy sports a look — platinum blonde hair, track suit and young acolytes — similar to that of the late British TV presenter Jimmy Savile, who after his death in 2011 was revealed to be a serial sexual predator.)

While Spike is learning to survive in Sir Jimmy’s gang, Dr. Kelson is continuing his work, extracting bones from bodies and moving corpses while cheerily singing Duran Duran songs. He also is making observations about the alpha of The Infected, whom he calls Samson (played by Chi Lewis-Parry), and starts to wonder if he can be treated so that his mind can break free of the zombie virus’ hold.

Of course, it’s inevitable that Sir Jimmy and Dr. Kelson will cross paths. What’s not inevitable is the way Garland, again acting as screenwriter, presents what happens to them. 

DaCosta — whose work ranges from last year’s Ibsen adaptation “Hedda” to the unjustly maligned “The Marvels” — doesn’t bring the frenetic energy Danny Boyle has demonstrated elsewhere in the franchise. That turns out to be a good thing, because for all the intense action and bloodiness that peppers the movie, what stands out are the quieter moments for both Fiennes’ Dr. Kelson and Williams’ Spike, strangers who have become bonded in survival.

Throughout “28 Days Later: The Bone Temple,” DaCosta keeps us off-guard, trying to guess what will happen next and rewarding us for answers more rich and powerful than what we in the audience would have conjured. She gives Kelson his grace and Spike a dose of empathy, things in short supply but greatly appreciated in this or any zombie apocalypse. 

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’28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’

★★★1/2

Opens Friday, January 16, in theaters everywhere. Rated R for strong bloody violence, gore, graphic nudity, language throughout, and brief drug use. Running time: 109 minutes.