28 Weeks LaterMovie Reviews

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Avg. Critic Score: 78 out of 100 Generally favorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
17 not for kids
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 100
    The Hollywood Reporter | Ray Bennett

    A ferociously entertaining thriller with sympathetic characters, stunning set pieces and pulsating excitement. Read full review

  • 100
    Washington Post | Desson Thomson

    As viscerally compelling as smash-mouth filmmaking gets. Read full review

  • 90
    Wall Street Journal | Joe Morgenstern

    There's no better fun for movie lovers than a small, unheralded film that turns out to be terrific -- unless it's a small, unheralded sequel that trumps the original. Read full review

  • 90
    The New York Times | A.O. Scott

    28 Weeks Later is not for the faint of heart or the weak of stomach. It is brutal and almost exhaustingly terrifying, as any respectable zombie movie should be. It is also bracingly smart, both in its ideas and in its techniques. Read full review

  • 90
    Variety | Derek Elley

    A full-bore zombie romp that more than delivers the genre goods. Read full review

  • 83
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    Excels at creating a keen, creepy sense of a civilization stopped dead in its tracks -- vaporized, almost, except for those disemboweled bodies left still undisposed. Read full review

  • 80
    Los Angeles Times | Carina Chocano

    28 Weeks Later lacks the streamlined thrust of its predecessor but makes for compelling, adrenaline-fueled viewing just the same. Read full review

  • 75
    San Francisco Chronicle | Peter Hartlaub

    The biggest sin of 28 Weeks Later is that it's not in the same league as the near-perfect movie that came before it. Read full review

  • 75
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    Hold on for a hell of a ride. Read full review

  • 75
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    Relentlessly grim and grisly, 28 Weeks Later is not for the faint of heart. But its provocative post-apocalyptic theme makes for a smart and deeply unsettling film. Read full review

View more reviews for 28 Weeks Later on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says not for kids Apocalyptic zombie sequel isn't for the squeamish.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this sequel to the zombie horror fest 28 Days Later is at least as scary and disturbing as the original. Extreme, graphic peril and violence are nonstop; sympathetic characters die, dysfunctional parents' love (or lack thereof) for each other and their children inspires ghastly death, and the ending removes any sense of optimism or hope that the right course has been taken. There are also sexual references and swearing -- if anyone's even paying attention to the dialogue in a movie like this.
  • Families can talk about the enduring appeal of apocalyptic horror stories. What's the fascination? Is it that they present moral choices in sharp relief? Families can also talk about how the different characters respond to the quarantine -- and why it goes so badly wrong. Is a zero-tolerance policy the only solution?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: The "good" guys are the ones who disobey military orders and sacrifice themselves in order to do the right thing -- namely avoid hurting innocent/uninfected people and preserve the only humans who might create the chance for a cure. But their altruistic actions result in more bloody death and ultimate horror. Characters lie and are selfishly motivated.
What to watch for
  • violence false5 Violence: Savage, unrelenting bloody violence includes helicopter blades shredding through zombies like a giant lawnmower. A woman is beaten to death and her eyes gouged in horrific close-up. Bitings and poundings; rifle fire blows off human limbs. Huge explosions and fire bombings, with both the living and the dead set ablaze. Children are repeatedly threatened with death or injury.
  • sex false3 Sex: A nude couple having sex is distantly glimpsed though a rifle scope. Un-erotic footage of a woman naked in a shower being scrubbed down in a decontamination process. Discussion of masturbation.
  • language false5 Language: Much profanity, with frequent uses of both "f--k" and "s--t."
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Some British canned-goods labels shown; posters for assorted bands.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false0 Drinking, drugs and smoking: A couple prepares to drink a bottle of liquor, but they don't get around to it.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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Dave White

4.0

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… tense and full of dread … Read full review See Dave White's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

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