28 Years Later Devastated Me With Its Twist In The Middle, And Being A Parent Only Made It Scarier

October is a time to watch the best horror movies, and with 28 Years Later available with a Netflix subscription, now is the perfect time to check it out. In addition to being a movie that CinemaBlend awarded a perfect score in its review, it's absolutely terrifying to watch if you're a parent.

A quick spoiler warning for those who have yet to see the movie, I will be getting into plot details of 28 Years Later below. I would suggest watching the movie before reading, but if you don't care about spoilers and want to know why this movie traumatized me so much as the parent of a young child, feel free to read on!

28 Years Later Starts Off Like A Father And Son Bonding Experience

Unlike earlier movies within this world, the survivors of 28 Years Later are well-accustomed to rage-addled zombies, and have developed ways of handling threats while protecting themselves over the years. One survivor colony's way of life is so established that they have a tradition of sending their younger citizens out with older hunters on their first mission outside of the city.

It's here we meet Jamie and Spike, and see a twisted post-apocalyptic father and son bonding experience. We see the immense respect Spike has for his father and the doubt he has in his own abilities. We also see Jamie remarkably proud of his son, especially after they narrowly make it back to the village after a run-in with an alpha Zombie. In a UK abandoned by the rest of the world, they have each other, or so I thought when watching this incredibly endearing part.

The Twist Of Spike Rejecting His Father Broke My Heart

Unfortunately, 28 Years Later almost deliberately highlights Spike and Jamie's close relationship only to tear it down not long after the first hunt. After leaving his party put on by the town, Spike spots his father being intimate with another woman while his mother and Jamie's wife, Isla, is very sick at home.

Spike goes home and confronts his father the following morning, but never told his mother what he saw. Jamie, mad at Spike's accusation that he'd be happy if Isla died, strikes his son and leaves the house.

It's not really an experience I can personally relate to, but I do know what it's like to disappoint a child on a smaller scale. One time, I got the time wrong and arrived late to my daughter's lunchtime at school, and seeing her little head in her arms, sad because I hadn't arrived yet, haunted me for months. I could only imagine the pain of disappointing my child on this level, and what I'd feel afterward.

Spike Leaving The Community With His Mother In Secret Made My Hair Stand On End

Zombies don't scare me, but 28 Years Later was able to make my hair stand on end when Spike fled the city with his mother without his father realizing until it was too late. The young boy had only just barely survived his first encounter with the wilds, and attempting to navigate it with his delirious mother, all in hopes of finding a doctor to treat her, sounded like a suicide mission.

And yet, it's a bold type of confidence I'm all too familiar with. Only a desperate child would attempt something so wild and also think they have a chance of pulling it off. The minute Spike and Isla set out I was more or less convinced this movie was going to have a really dark ending, so I am glad that was only partly the case.

Spike learning his mother has untreatable cancer, and that the doctor can't help her is absolutely brutal. They went through so much just to get to that point, and one has to wonder, had the UK not been abandoned in the zombie apocalypse, if modern treatment could've helped her sooner. It's not a question the movie really seeks to answer, and instead deals more with Spike and reconciling with the fact that his mother is gone, but at least no longer suffering.

Overall It's A Fantastic Movie, But Really Put Me Through It As A Parent

We already know that a sequel to 28 Years Later is on the way, and as much as I want to watch The Bone Temple, I'm also worried. I'm excited to see what's ahead for Spike after where the movie left off, especially given the colorful cast of survivors that ended up rescuing him in the final scene.

On the other hand, damn, this movie really wore me out as a parent, and really had me reeling by the end of it. I can't imagine the amount of stress on Jamie's mind at the film's end, knowing that somewhere Spike is out there surviving in the wild. Every bit of me would tear through the woods in hopes of finding my own child, only in an effort to make amends and try to bring them back to safety.

Overall, I think 28 Years Later does a great job at showcasing that realization in childhood when one realizes their parents are just people. The illusion that they're some sort of superhumans that always have the answers and know what to do is shattered, and there's something truly scary about that realization as a kid. At the risk of sounding corny, I think the way that's highlighted is perhaps the scariest part of the entire movie, though the thought of being chased down by a well-endowed zombie would probably freak me out just as much if it happened in my real life.

As mentioned, 28 Years Later can be streamed over on Netflix, along with a lot of other scary movies. I can't wait to run through all of the big horror movies on streaming as we make our way through the fall season, and am hoping to be surprised by a few more 2025 horror movies before the year is up.