Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for 28 Years Later.28 Years Later isn’t just a brilliant legacy sequel to one of the most influential horror classics of the 21st century; it’s also one of the year’s best films. While franchises are often brought back from the dead purely for the sake of nostalgia, Danny Boyle made ambitious choices by using 28 Years Later to continue the timeline of 28 Days Later, which converged from reality upon the outbreak of the Rage Virus. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is already shot and set to be released in January, helmed by Nia DaCosta instead of Danny Boyle. 28 Years Later sets up its successor with a disturbing appearance by Jack O’Connell, who identifies himself as Jimmy Crystal, a leader of a bizarre cult.

Jimmy is the older version of the young child at the center of 28 Years Later’s disturbing opening sequence. Back when the Rage Virus first broke out in 2002, an eight-year-old Jimmy (Rocco Hayes) managed to escape a gruesome attack from the infected that claimed his family and neighbors. He runs to their local church to find his dad (Sandy Batchelor), who is revealed to be the local vicar, and Jimmy is forced to watch him be torn apart by zombies. Instead of fearing his imminent painful death, Jimmy’s father interprets the apocalyptic crisis as an example of divine intervention. This type of shocking event would have certainly scarred Jimmy for life, but his appearance towards the end of the film suggests an even more disturbing truth. Jimmy and his gang are all dressed up like various versions of Jimmy Savile, one of the most notorious criminals in British history.

Who Was Jimmy Savile?

Jimmy Savile was a renowned British radio host, personality, and DJ who was discovered to be one of the most prolific sexual abusers in the nation’s history, as allegations against him pointed to upwards of 450 victims. Although Savile had first drawn attention to himself thanks to his work as a presenter on Radio Luxembourg, hosting the Top of the Pops program allowed him to develop an eccentric media personality that became highly popular among young people. Savile produced several public information films for the BBC and maintained an active public lifestyle thanks to his contributions to various charitable institutions. In addition to volunteering at several national hospitals, Saville created the charities Jimmy Savile Stoke Mandeville Hospital Trust and the Jimmy Savile Charitable Trust, both of which were renamed in the wake of the allegations. Saville’s circle of friends included many critical members of the British government, media, and Royal Family, including Queen Elizabeth II, who knighted him in 1990.

Although there had been whispers about scandals during his lifetime, the claims against Savile became public knowledge in the years following his death in 2011. After a series of publicly broadcast investigative reports, police began pursuing various investigations related to his alleged crimes, which included victims who ranged between 5 and 75 years of age. While an analysis of the reports suggested that 80% of Savile’s victims were children, and 82% were women, it was also reported that he had engaged in necrophilic acts, as he had been given “unlimited” access to the Leeds General Infirmary mortuary by the general mortician, who was among his personal friends. While many of the honors bestowed upon Savile were rescinded, others proved more difficult to negate, as an official knighthood expires when its subject dies, and cannot be posthumously taken away. In the years since, public backlash has continued to fixate on how aware charitable donors, BBC correspondents, and Savile’s other public acquaintances were of his criminal behavior.

Where Does the ‘28 Years Later’ Franchise Go Next?

Savile’s crimes would likely not have become public knowledge within the universe of 28 Years Later, as the initial Rage Virus outbreak took place in 2002, nearly a full decade before Savile’s death. The opening scene utilizes the Teletubbies to ground the story in a relevant piece of popular culture, so we can assume that the likes of Top of the Pops, and thus, Saville, still exist in this world. And if that’s the case, Savile’s crimes likely were never unearthed, leaving him to still be a hero in the public eye after the virus spread. This creates an eerie parallel between Jimmy and his father; while Jimmy’s father felt that God had willed him to accept the undead as part of a reckoning, Jimmy has looked to Savile as a source of inspiration.

All of Jimmy’s allies are dressed like various versions of Savile, who was known for wearing wildly different outfits and taking on different personas during his six decades as a public figure. Although it’s unclear how Jimmy Fox (Erin Kellyman), Jimmima (Emma Laird), Jimmy Jones (Maura Bird), Jimmy Jimmy (Robert Rose), Jimmy Shite (Connor Neal), and Jimmy Snake (Ghazi Al Ruffai) formed their group, they bear a striking resemblance to Alex (Malcolm McDowell) and his gang of “droogs” from Stanley Kubrick’s influential classic A Clockwork Orange. Since A Clockwork Orange’s characters also misappropriated popular culture for insidious reasons (as they shared a love of classical music), it’s likely that 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple will continue to explore the corruption of British society. O’Connell is expected to have a much more significant role in the sequel, as Nia DaCosta’s follow-up will include all the main characters that survived the events of 28 Years Later.

The decision to utilize Savile’s likeness was a risky choice, as it may confuse or disturb audiences depending on where they’re from. Americans, who are likely unfamiliar with Savile, may be baffled by the strange martial arts used by Jimmy’s gang, as they also resemble the style of the Power Rangers (which are referenced earlier in the film by an action figure on Spike’s shelf). However, viewers in Europe may feel that the decision was made in poor taste, as it could be compared to a theoretical reference to Bill Cosby or Michael Jackson in the United States. This is ironically not the first time Boyle has earned divisive responses for references to a historical figure, as the decision to use a CGI-rendered version of John Lennon in the musical comedy Yesterday invoked backlash. Nonetheless, it’s left to be seen how this choice will pay off in the sequel, as screenwriter Alex Garland has successfully tackled controversial recent events in his solo-directed films Civil War and Warfare. 28 Years Later is already one of the scariest zombie movies ever made, but evoking a real-life monster might take the sequels to a new level of terror.

28 Years Later

Release Date

June 20, 2025

Runtime

126 minutes

Director

Danny Boyle

Producers

Alex Garland, Andrew Macdonald, Bernard Bellew