the scary, gruesome, and emotional “28 Years Later,” director Danny Boyle stops trying to make your heart burst through your chest and instead sets us up for a case of cinematic whiplash. In the film’s final moments, blood-curdling cries fill the air as Spike (Alfie Williams) sprints down a mountainside highway, only to reach a dead end with a group of the rage-filled Infected closing in. When all hope seems lost, help suddenly appears in the form of a grinning, perfectly healthy stranger, played by “Sinners” villain, Jack O’Connell. He and a team dressed in similar outfits descend on the frenzied mob and quickly dispatch them with impressive gymnastics and fighting skills. It’s only when the dust settles and the infected are taken out that it becomes apparent to many UK-based audience members the company young Spike has found himself in, and he needs to get as far away from them as possible.
In a bizarre and unhinged fashion, it quickly becomes clear that this gang of heroes is modeled after one of the most notorious and horrific figures in British culture, which could spark a different kind of dread and borderline offense for some UK-based moviegoers. For Boyle and writer Alex Garland, though, they know exactly what they are doing: pressing on a nerve that local audiences would prefer them not to. This wandering stranger is named Sir Jimmy Crystal, whose name and look are in line with the now haunting fashion of Jimmy Savile, one of Britain’s most predatory, serial sex offenders.
