One of the decade’s best post-apocalyptic movies is finally now streaming

The film has two sequels on the way, so now is the time to catch up.

Accessible through the service NOW, 28 Years Later is the long-awaited follow-up to the hit films 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later.

As can be expected from its title, the sequel mostly takes place 28 years after the Rage virus escaped a medical research facility in Cambridge. This virus turns the humans it infects into angry, bloodthirsty, zombie-like monsters incapable of reasoning.

Nearly three decades after this incident, all of the United Kingdom is under strict quarantine, though pockets of people have managed to survive and form safe communities within the country.

12-year-old boy Spike (Alfie Williams, excellent) is growing up with his parents, Isla and Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Jodie Comer), in one of these communities based on the real-life island of Lindisfarne, which is located off the northeast coast of England.

Also known as Holy Island, Lindisfarne is noteworthy for being connected to the mainland via a mile-long causeway that is only accessible at low tide.

Isla is suffering from an unknown illness, which is causing severe headaches, hallucinations and memory loss.

As the sensitive Spike fears for his mother's health, he is whisked off by the more macho Jamie to take part in a ritual for young boys on the island. The goal of the father-son adventure: travel across the causeway to the mainland to give Jamie his first chance at killing a zombie.

On the mainland, Jamie learns about 'Alphas', a new evolution of the Rage-infected who are smarter and stronger. He also hears mumblings of Dr Kelson (Ralph Fiennes, great in a role that is hard to talk about without spoilers!), a former GP living on the mainland, believed to have gone insane.

Thinking Kelson may be the key to saving his mother, Isla, the young boy embarks on an odyssey into an unfamiliar, destroyed Britain where danger is forever lurking.

Directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland - who both made the original 28 Days Later, which came out all the way back in 2002 - 28 Years Later certainly was worth the long wait.

We here at JOE were huge fans of the sequel, particularly its cross of gnarly zombie carnage and ghoulish humour, with rich themes and genuine heart.

In fact, we wrote in our initial review of the movie: “28 Years Later is a near-perfect, consistently thrilling blend of story and style.

“[It] manages to find a fresh perspective on the apocalypse, just as viewers may have thought there were no new stories to tell.”

A follow-up to 28 Years Later is out in cinemas on 14 January, which is titled 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (another film after that is also reportedly on the way).

As such, what better time to check out the post-apocalyptic horror thriller, which was not just one of the best genre movies of last year, but one of the best movies of 2025, period.

28 Years Later is currently streaming on the service NOW.

Check out a clip of our interview with director Danny Boyle about the post-apocalyptic flick below, in which he lays out the plan for the franchise's new trilogy:

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