’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 […]
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. “The barn scene in particular is horrifying, but it’s because you realize, wow, these people are disconnected from their beating heart, from their conscience, from, some would say, their souls. 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.
“So to me, that dichotomy really asks the audience, ‘what do you choose on a day-to-day basis?'”
That question certainly extends to Erin Kellyman‘s Jimmy Ink, a morally dubious but trusted member of Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal’s merry band of psychos, one who takes Spike under her wing.
Kellyman said of connecting with her character, “I think from reading the script, I made the connection quite quickly that she had been in this cult for a while. Then, when we opened up that discussion with Nia, it was, I think, you were on the same page with that. But I think the backstory always helps when you’re bringing a character to life just to understand them a little bit better.”
For Dr. Kelson’s story, The Bone Temple delivers deeper insight into the Rage-infected, especially that of Alpha Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry). DaCosta was excited to explore the world of the Infected a bit more.
“I just really trust in the script,” She says. “I really trust my collaborators, myself, I guess, as well. I just really felt like, ‘Oh, I know how to do this.’ Even when it was shooting what we shot and getting the script, and then in post being like, ‘Oh, what if we actually shifted this instead so it’s even more in the point of view of this character?’ Making all those little choices accumulated to something really special.”
Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry) and Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) in Columbia Pictures’ 28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE. Photo credit: Sony.
