How ’28 Years Later’ Director Danny Boyle Took a Risk with Sequel’s New Sound [Interview]

Among the many elements that cemented director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland‘s 28 Days Later as a contemporary horror classic was John Murphy‘s unforgettable score, especially standout track “In The House – In A Heartbeat.”

For its sequel, new trilogy-starter 28 Years Later, Danny Boyle wanted to shift gears and give the film its own identity. That meant taking the unexpected route in nearly every way, from storytelling to technique to even the film’s sound. 

It’s been nearly three decades since the rage virus first escaped a biological weapons laboratory, and the passage of time has drastically altered life within the quarantine zone.

Boyle tells Bloody Disgusting why he went in a completely new direction for 28 Years Later. “We tried to create a different landscape, really, because I think the idea of the film was that we were doing, although it would have a debt to the first film, obviously. As much as possible, it would be an original film.”

Boyle continues, “We used a different sound team, [led by sound designer] Johnny Byrne, who had worked on The Zone of Interest. His sound team approached it wonderfully. They build very incrementally, very unusual, the way they work, they build very incrementally, and they visit all the locations, they record all sorts of sounds and stuff like that.”