Where the Streets Have No People (28 Days Later)

Near the start of this movie, we see a lone man walking the streets of London. They are barren of people. There is no one to be seen in from Piccadilly Circus to Big Ben, and it's a miraculous shot. 28 Days Later is the first horror film reviewed by Jason and Alicia, and it's one of my favorites. A Danny Boyle film - it's clear through the viewing of this film why he went on to win the Oscar for 2008's Slumdog Millionaire. The premise is this - a virus is accidentally released on the population of London. Around the same time, Jim is admitted into a hospital with a head injury. 28 days later, he wakes up to find the city in ruin and no people to be found.

Cillian Murphy is at the top of my list for celeb-crushes so, watching Cillian Murphy as lead throughout 28 Days Later, was no difficult task. The good news is, there is more to Cillian Murphy than a pretty face. He certainly carries his own in 28 Days Later acting solo for a good portion of the movie and being forced into one situation to the next. The story unfolds in a way that speaks volumes with zero dialogue. The abandoned hospital and the empty London streets set the tone of ultra-creepiness. at this point, I am already asking, "Can the last man on earth save the world?" Another question might be, "Can the last man on earth save himself?" Boyle paints the desolate scene with artful panache to leave an audience gobsmacked and possibly, rather frightened before anything very obviously scary even occurs.

More to Cillian Murphy than a pretty face - hrm - I wonder what you're referring to Alicia. Cillian certainly lets it all hang out in this movie. Look for a transformation from the victim to leader of surviving mankind, but that's one of the keys of a good Zombie Movie - the everyman steps up that previously wouldn't have in a lesser situation. Quickly the film transforms from a horror movie into a social study of groups faced with their very survival. Some of the characters see the infection as an opportunity to shed their humanity in order to continue the human race while others realize that it's humanity that makes us stronger than the virus. It's the fact that we're willing to risk our own lives help someone else who needs it that makes us human. It's that we make connections from doing this, and allows us to make necessary connections. There lies the dilemma of this movie. Ultimate survival depends on these pockets of survivors repopulating the planet. However, early on Selena (Namoie Harris) tells Jim that she can't afford to have others slow her down because that means she'll be dead too. Though it goes unsaid that if one takes survival to such a selfish level, there will be no one left to allow for the human race to survive. Therefore, it is contingent that the social unit operate with order and common sense - but most of all humanity.

Something I found to be very frightening was the lack of trust to be found. Happening upon a non-infected person or group of people doesn't mean automatic bonding and safety. It seems as if the danger became more intense due to the militant behavior of the leader.

Watching this, I do think about the Human Vs. Zombies game I played at work. Similar, in that, I remember how anxiety was so high walking around the cafeteria as a "human" looking around and dodging getting tagged by a "zombie." I also noticed after I was tagged by a "zombie" and turned how I quickly bonded with the other zombies. I walked into the courtyard area at work and other zombies waved to me. The zombies were so much friendlier than the humans. Why is this so? Well, zombies have nothing to lose. The humans in the game, however, didn't trust one another. You rarely noticed another human because you were too busy looking over your shoulder for zombies. The humans didn't help one another out the way zombies did. I suppose the game reminds me a lot of the way of human behavior in 28 Days Later.

It was interesting to see the transformation of Jim throughout the film as well. He begins as someone feeling very lost and alone calling out in the empty streets to find any human response. He learns the new rules and learns to adapt in the fastest way possible in order to survive. These elements, combined with the direction of Danny Boyle, makes for a ride of artistic and horrific storytelling.

When I watched this for the first time, I bought it blind. I stand by that. I bought it due to it being released on Halloween and knowing that it was directed by 'the guy that directed Trainspotting,' but after watching it Danny Boyle's name stuck and I found myself consciously interested in what his next project would be. His movies have always been a study of how the social unit breaks down when faced with conflict - so a Zombie Movie is something that had to be done by Danny Boyle. Some have been better horror movies, and some have satisfied the sadists better with gratuitous gore, but short of Romero's Night of the Living Dead - none have better delivered a social study of humanity better.