’28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’ Director Nia DaCosta Dials Up the Horror with the Jimmies [Interview]

There’s a stark contrast between good and evil in the sequel, 28 Years: The Bone Temple.

At the opposite end of empathetic Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) and his poignant monument to death is psychopathic Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell) and his Satanist clan, “The Jimmies.” The bad news for poor Spike (Alfie Williams) is that the events of the previous film put him directly in Jimmy’s crosshairs.

Nia DaCosta (Candyman 2021, The Marvels) takes the directorial reins from Danny Boyle for the second installment in the planned trilogy, helming from a script by Alex Garland (28 Days Later, 28 Years Later). The filmmaker drives up the horror of Spike’s nightmarish plight for the sequel, presenting a grim vision of the British Isles years after the Rage virus decimated its population.

Speaking with Bloody Disgusting ahead of the film’s release on January 16, 2026, via Sony, DaCosta gave insight into the dual storylines and dialing up the horror to highlight just how eroded humanity has become, at least as far as The Jimmies are concerned.

“I mean, they are satanists essentially. They believe in charity, which is what they call it, and cruelty, and it really is inhumane. And as you say, on the other hand, you have a very humanist character in Kelson and his relationship with Samson, with that weird thing.  For me, the balance of those two things is super important.” The filmmaker cites one ghastly scene as an example. “ It’s because of the world they live in. But we also have Kelson, who chooses another way and is in the same world as they are.