28 Days Later

About 28 Days Later

28 Days Later is a 2002 British post-apocalyptic horror film directed by Danny Boyle. With a screenplay written by Alex Garland, the film stars Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris and Christopher Eccleston. Set in Great Britain, just after the turn of the 21st century, the story depicts the breakdown of society following the accidental release of a highly contagious virus and focuses upon the struggle of four survivors to cope with the ruination of the life they once knew.

A critical and commercial success, the film is widely recognized for images of a deserted London, and was shot almost entirely on digital video. The film spawned the 2007 sequel, 28 Weeks Later, as well as the graphic novel 28 Days Later: The Aftermath.

Late one night, British animal rights activists break into the Cambridge Primate Research Facility to free chimpanzees being used for medical research. The local scientist warns the activists that the chimps are infected with something he only calls "Rage," but the activists disregard him and set them free. The chimpanzees immediately attack and infect the activists and scientist. 28 days later, a bicycle courier named Jim (Cillian Murphy) awakens from a coma in a deserted hospital. As he leaves the hospital, he discovers London is completely deserted and rife with signs of catastrophe. Jim is soon discovered and chased through the streets by infected people before being rescued by two survivors, Selena (Naomie Harris) and Mark (Noah Huntley), who rush him to their hideout in the London Underground. They reveal that while Jim was comatose, the virus had spread uncontrollably among the populace; the result of which was that most of the population devolved in to vicious, bloodthirsty monsters (known as "the Infected") and resulting in societal collapse, possibly on a global scale.