The first social media reactions to Nia DaCosta’s 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple are now being shared online following the horror sequel’s first press screening, and based on these initial posts, The Marvels director has definitely delivered.
The Bone Temple is hailed as one of the best horror movies of the past decade my more than one critic, and it sounds like the gore and brutality have been taken up a few notches.
Danny Boyle’s previous film mostly went over pretty well with fans, but did prove to be somewhat divisive – particularly the batsh*it crazy, tonally-jarring ending. One post below believed this follow-up is destined to be even more polarizing.
Nia DaCosta is a director that more people need to keep their eyes on for the near future.
28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE is one of the greatest horror movies of the decade, as it takes the first movie and goes 10 extra miles with the brutality and intensity of the world.
It… pic.twitter.com/Dc5vXqP20M
— Christopher Rates It 🦦 (@LuminousDagger) December 9, 2025
#28YearsLater: The Bone Temple – Yet more evidence that when you let Nia Da Costa cook, great things tend to happen. So much to love, with Ralph Fiennes walking away with the MVP and tearing the house down with one especially insane sequence that rightfully drew applause. Go see! pic.twitter.com/20s8pU3fLd
— Amon Warmann (@AmonWarmann) December 9, 2025
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is, at times, relentless, deeply cerebral, and a deliciously savage continuation of the story from 28 Years Later.
Jack O’Connell and Ralph Fiennes are superb, alongside the wonderful Chi-Lewis Parry.#28YearsLater #TheBoneTemple @SonyPicturesUK pic.twitter.com/i9jBzqQx7c
— Matt Hudson (What I Watched Tonight) (@wiwt_uk) December 9, 2025
28 Years Later #TheBoneTemple takes some big swings and most of them land. Suspect it will divide fans but it’s nastier and – surprisingly – funnier than the first part, with mesmerizing performances from Jack O’Connell and Ralph Fiennes. pic.twitter.com/D9XezUW2m0
— Will Salmon (@evilrobotbill) December 9, 2025
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is a great follow up to Danny Boyle’s recent sequel. Nia DaCosta recaptures the magic of the previous films with a propulsive story that utilises dynamic camerawork as it explores the cultish side of faith, religion, NHS and the balance between… pic.twitter.com/w8US703Yec
— Zak (@zakfilm) December 9, 2025
28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE is beautifully chaotic, breathtaking, and everything I wanted it to be. Nia DaCosta brought her unique style to this world on a captivating way and I would watch Jack O’Connell and Ralph Finnes for hours. Another banger of a film for this franchise pic.twitter.com/7VVr3cBN6s
— Rachel Leishman (@RachelLeishman) December 10, 2025
THE BONE TEMPLE is a brutally audacious follow up to 28 YEARS LATER that largely sidelines the infected to explore cultism, trauma, psychosis and compassion.
I really like its uncompromising, idiosyncratic ambition. It’s easily more polarising than 28YL.
Video coming in January pic.twitter.com/4KcKGSidml
— Ryan Hollinger (@ryanhollinger) December 9, 2025
I’ll say it with my chest… 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is one of the best horror movies of the last decade. Gnarly, intense, and surprisingly tender. Ralph Fiennes, Jack O’Connell, and Chi Lewis-Parry, take a bloody bow. @SonyPicturesUK #28YearsLater #TheBoneTemple pic.twitter.com/rr7CjxIq4n
— Eammon Parks Jacobs (@EammonJacobs) December 9, 2025
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026) –
What if isolation is as erosive as the virus flowing through the infected’s veins? DaCosta’s introversion of this world juxtaposes so precisely with the groundwork laid before her by Boyle. Hard to imagine a better start to the new year. pic.twitter.com/8jAM4sNpHl
— Giovanni Lago (@TheGiovanniLago) December 10, 2025
Cillian Murphy’s 28 Days Later protagonist, Jim, has been confirmed to return for what sounds like a cameo to set up a larger role in the final part of the trilogy.
“The thing that connects the two [movies] is that they’re both bonkers, idiosyncratic, and very artistically personal works,” DaCosta told Rolling Stone in a recent interview “My big pitch when I was talking to the producers, including Danny and Alex, before I came on was, ‘I’m going to make this my own. I’m not going to try to make a Danny Boyle movie.’ Because that’s impossible to make. He’s so special. And it didn’t really interest me. It’s so hard to describe the tone of the movie that I actually won’t even attempt to. But it keeps the same unique, off-the-wall, surprising energy.”
The most recent synopsis reads:
“Expanding upon the world created by Danny Boyle and Alex Garland in 28 Years Later but turning that world on its head – Nia DaCosta directs 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. In a continuation of the epic story, Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) finds himself in a shocking new relationship – with consequences that could change the world as they know it – and Spike’s (Alfie Williams) encounter with Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell) becomes a nightmare he can’t escape. In the world of The Bone Temple, the infected are no longer the greatest threat to survival – the inhumanity of the survivors can be stranger and more terrifying.”