Embrace hope, all ye abandoned here.

Following the events of 28 Days Later (including pushing back the Rage Virus and reversing the end of 28 Weeks Later), the United Kingdom has become a quarantine zone, patrolled by NATO to keep the Infected and uninfected alike from escaping into the rest of the world. On the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, a community of individuals survives and even thrives given their circumstances. In a ritual coming-of-age journey to the mainland, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) prepares his teenage son Spike (Alfie Williams) to kill his first Infected, but the boy can only think of his bedridden mother Isla (Jodie Comer). A celebration awaits the returning father and son, but Spike sees his deceptive and opportunistic father for who he is, angrier still to discover a doctor on the mainland who might be able to help his mother. With Isla’s mind slipping present to past from moment to moment, Spike spirits her away from the isle in the hopes of finding the infamous Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes)… assuming he’ll be able to avoid the Infected led by a new Alpha affectionately named “Samson” (Chi Lewis-Parry).

Eleven seasons of “The Walking Dead” (plus its spinoffs) have taken place since the last time the UK’s “fast zombies” graced our screens, never mind the the countless other zombie shows like “iZombie,” so whatever happened to 28 Months Later? Rights issues, real life, and lots of other things. Additionally, nobody is saying the events of 28 Weeks Later didn’t happen, but the Days creators didn’t appear to have much input. Once the rights were reacquired in 2019, director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland angled to could get a whole trilogy funded as part of the deal, so here we are. Images of survivors running through wilderness, a savage Ralph Fiennes, and a temple of bones lit by firelight are teased in the trailers, all set to a disturbing 1915 reading by actor Taylor Holmes of the Rudyard Kipling poem “Boots.” And the biggest question of all: will Cillian Murphy actually reprise the film credited with launching his career?

Whereas Days explored civilization’s breakdown, Years considers the youth born into it. A not-for-kids story with a kid as the main character, Spike has little experience hiding his feelings, even as his father teaches him “practical abandonment.” Perhaps unfair toward an adult who knows any moment could be their last, but as a youth who’s only known this world, Spike’s hope is a driving force, even as viewers understand the dangers he knows nothing about. Years provides a crash course in the current world, from the innocent condemned to Hell to the privileged newly cast into it; the collision of their viewpoints creates uncomfortable moments of organic humor before jolting viewers out of their apathy whenever certain death appears. While the third act dominated by Fiennes showcases existential volumes to consider as it resolves Spike’s concerns and sets him on his future path, a zero-day prologue details another young man losing everyone he’s ever known before skipping ahead three decades to Spike’s story. This narrative bookend doesn’t pay off until its cliffhanger epilogue, feeling a bit like a cheat with one final classic Danny Boyle whiplash tonal shift, but should anyone be surprised by that?

The production design might actually exceed the storyline. From the tide-flooding causeway keeping a settlement safe to a tower of skulls surrounded by columns of bones, the new world feels more like a cemetery, a memorial to everything lost. The survivors of Lindisfarne go through the motions, much like the silo inhabitants from A Boy and His Dog, desperate for the next red-letter day. Dr. Kelson, in contrast, is trying to make sense of everything, using methodology to see a way through, although he, too, is clearly losing hope. Finally there’s the unnerving truth the rest of the planet is either watching all of this via satellite like a scientist peering into a petri dish or has no interest in it whatsoever… but it’s seems a bit of a stretch not one person on Earth wants to see “Survivor: The Infected UK.”

It’s a comfort to know the next installment isn’t too far away, because the ending of Years doesn’t feel like viewers got enough, which is probably just right. Make no mistake: there’s plenty of blood, gore, and more to go around, so it’s a spine-ripping good time for horror fans. Years may be riding more on its suggested potential than what audiences were led to expect, but anyone familiar with the dark turn from 28 Days Later feels something was missing here… and there’s two more films in the trilogy to dread where this story might turn next.

28 Years Later is rated R for strong bloody violence, grisly images, graphic nudity, language, brief sexuality, and a three-legged Alpha.

Three skull recommendation out of four