It took 18 years for us to get a sequel to 28 Weeks Later, which we can all say was a real test of patience. Some of us handled the wait better than others, and we can only be grateful the franchise’s fourth installation is coming out only a year after 28 Years Later. But if you’re looking for films like 28 Years Later to keep you occupied until 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’s release, here are a few of our favorites.
What are the best movies like 28 Years Later?
For our picks, we’re choosing to leave off any of the other films in the franchise, for apparent reasons. Other films on our list are among the highlights of the zombie genre, though they don’t all fall into apocalyptic survival territory.
The Night Eats the World (2018)
Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later gave us a startling image of an empty London, which is terrifying enough on its own. This French zombie film gives us a similar tone, in which we know zombies are taking over Paris, though we don’t see too much of them aside from a few fantastic moments. But the film doesn’t need the hordes to feel absolutely dread-inducing. Lesser known than the other films on our list, The Night Eats The World is a fantastic isolation zombie flick.
Directed by Dominique Rocher and written by Jérémie Guez, Guillaume Lemans, and Rocher, based on the novel of the same name, The Night Eats the World follows Sam, a musician living in Paris. One night, Sam visits his ex-girlfriend Fanny to retrieve some of his tapes. In the midst of a party, Fanny brushes Sam off enough times until she finally tells him where they are. A partygoer bumps against Sam, whose nose starts to bleed. He then passes out. When he wakes, the apartment is empty, but the place is trashed, and there’s blood on the walls. He soon realizes the city is overrun by these fast-moving zombies, forcing him to barricade himself in the apartment in a fight for survival.
Train to Busan (2016)
Directed by Yeon Sang-ho, Train to Busan is unrelenting. We’ll avoid the train puns to explain how quickly this film moves and what sort of force it throws at you. We can assume you get it. Cynical divorcé and workaholic father Seok-woo (Gong Yoo) is spending time with his young daughter, who wishes to see her mother in Busan for her birthday. Overcome by guilt for being absent, he decides to grant his daughter’s wish.
Along with a varied group of passengers, the two board a high-speed train bound for Busan. This seemingly ordinary trip takes a drastic turn when an ill, bitten woman boards the train unnoticed. The outbreak begins spreading at an alarming speed (no pun intended here, we swear!) The train doesn’t have the option to stop, either, because outside are hordes of infected soldiers. The sense of dread escalates as the infection moves from carriage to carriage, ultimately trapping everyone inside.
The Girl with All the Gifts (2016)
This might not be the most obvious pick, since it veers away from the fast-paced, hordes-of-zombies-attack style. The Girl with All the Gifts, however, gives us a very different kind of zombie film. For that reason — in addition to it being a great movie anyway — we’re adding it to the list. Remember, 28 Days Later was its own new kind of zombie movie, and in that way, you can compare it to The Girl with All the Gifts. Both films were trying something new.
Directed by Colm McCarthy, The Girl with All the Gifts is set in a near-future Britain ravaged by a fungal infection that has turned most of humanity into fast-moving, feral “hungries.” Melanie (Sennia Nanua) is a young girl who appears outwardly infected yet retains her intelligence and human empathy. She, along with other infected children, is raised in captivity in a secure military base. There, the children are experimented on, but also taught in an educational setting. It’s a confusing, disturbing kind of experiment that makes this movie brilliant.
Though she’s treated as a monster by the scientists, she forms a close bond with her teacher (Gemma Arterton), who treats her with humanity and dignity. The moment before Melanie is about to be dissected, the base is overrun by Hungries, allowing Melanie to escape with a small group of survivors. The journey forces Melanie to confront her dual nature as being part human, part monster, and possibly the key to the cure.
World War Z (2013)
Directed by Marc Forester and starring Brad Pitt, World War Z is very much an action horror film in the same vein as Danny Boyle’s franchise. Pitt plays Gerry Lane, a former U.N. investigator who is in Philadelphia with his wife and two daughters when a zombie outbreak begins. The family, along with a boy they found hiding in their apartment, is rescued by officials who take them to a US Navy vessel. There, Gerry meets with other scientists seeking a cure. He’s not given much of an option in the matter, but he joins the team that is trying to track down the solution for this devastating zombie plague. The film turns into a zombie-action globe-trot as Gerry leads the team around the world in search of a way to stop the pandemic. Expect a blockbuster feel to this one.
Carriers (2009)
Somehow, more than a few of us missed this film when it first came out, which is absolutely a shame, but at least makes it incredibly enjoyable to go back and watch now. In terms of theme and tone, you’ll see plenty of crossover in the zombie apocalypse genre, but when this movie came out, it changed a lot about your regular zombie films. If you loved The Walking Dead, this should be up your alley. Also, remember it came out a year before the series.
In this post-apocalyptic thriller, four friends — Brian (Chris Pine), his brother Danny (Lou Taylor Pucci), Kate (Emily Vandecamp), Bobby (Piper Perabo) — are fleeing a pandemic that’s spread across the United States. They head to Turtle Beach, Texas, where they hunker down in one of a friend’s vacation homes. But along the road, they meet other infected people, plus other armed survivalists. As much as the film is an action thriller, it’s also a character-driven psychological drama, as these friends face threats from the outside while trying to maintain order within.
How we picked the best movies like 28 Years Later
There are a lot of zombie movies out there, and a lot of good ones. Some lose the story in the spectacle. We narrowed our choices to movies that felt similar in tone and style, featured interesting character dynamics, or tried to push the zombie genre forward in some way.
