Why 28 Days Later Isn't a Zombie Film

28 Days Later is a 2002 British post-apocalyptic horror film directed by Danny Boyle (and also my current special interest!). It follows Jim, a bicycle courier, who awakens from a coma in a hospital room to find that the apocalypse has happened without him à la Day of the Triffids. The rest of the film sees Jim encounter other survivors and adjust to the new world around him.

One of the more curious aspects of 28 Days Later is that, despite the apocalypse in this film being caused by an apparent zombie virus, the film’s director has nevertheless stated that this film is categorically not a zombie movie.

George Romero, perhaps the most influential director in this genre, has made similar assertions about his “zombie” films.

In 28 Days Later we see survivors from all walks of life: everypeoeple to experienced military personnel. We see them adopting various ideologies and swinging between the poles of hope and despair after having the world they know ripped away from them. In this new world the unconscionable becomes commonplace, yet hope might still be attainable.

The zombies in 28 Days Later are replaceable; this film could be about an atom bomb blast or an AI uprising and it would be much the same. The humans however, cannot be replaced. In fact, the zombies in 28 Days Later are a representation of humanity, not in contrast to it.

Other examples of zombie films without a primary focus on zombies exist too:

Train to Busan is one such example, and one of my personal favourite zombie films. While this film is much denser with zombie imagery and action set pieces than 28 Days Later that isn’t my reason for enjoying it, nor it’s main feature as a film.

Instead I believe that Train to Busan is so compelling due to it’s characters. For example, the main character is a man who has to redeem his relationship with his daughter.

Also the film has trains!

Even a satire of the genre like Shaun of the Dead doesn’t place it’s entire focus on zombies. Instead, it’s a film about a man faced with the opportunity escape a dead end situation in his life through the apocalypse.

The zombies in Shaun of the Dead are pretty typical zombies that the film doesn’t take much time to satirise. What’s being satirised here is humanity.

I’d like the conclusion of this blog post to be a recipe for making a compelling zombie film. While blood, gore and fright all have their place they rarely serve as the main focus for the most enduring zombie films. Instead, the zombie apocalypse usually serves as the backdrop for something far more profound and real than the living dead: humanity.