Is This Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Most Powerful Role Yet?

June 20, 2025: Three new films hit theatres this week — Pixar’s Elio, Aamir Khan’s heartfelt Sitaare Zameen Par, and Danny Boyle’s highly anticipated 28 Years Later. While many expected Pixar or Aamir’s drama to lead in emotion, it’s Boyle’s return to the zombie genre that delivers the most gut-wrenching, soul-stirring punch. Marketed as an action-heavy zombie flick with Aaron Taylor-Johnson front and center, 28 Years Later is anything but conventional.

Sure, it’s set in a bleak post-apocalyptic Britain still teeming with the undead. But behind the horror lies a moving coming-of-age story, carried entirely by 14-year-old Alfie Williams in a breakout performance that could define a generation of child actors.

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Set nearly three decades after the original 28 Days Later, the film picks up in a quarantined UK, while the US and Europe seem to be thriving. Survivors have built a safe haven on a Scottish island, accessible only during low tide. Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his son Spike (Alfie Williams) venture to the mainland in search of help — but young Spike soon uncovers dark truths about his father’s lies, their family’s history, and the elusive Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), who may hold a cure for his sick mother Isla (Jodie Comer).

Though the film starts slow, it quickly immerses you thanks to stunning cinematography by Anthony Dod Mantle and a haunting score by Young Fathers. The visual style, echoing Alex Garland’s storytelling (who returns as writer), feels almost like a graphic novel brought to life. Despite fewer than 20 on-screen deaths in the film’s two-hour runtime, the tension is gripping, the emotional weight even more so.

But the soul of this film is Alfie Williams. His performance — raw, expressive, and astonishingly mature — steals every scene, even alongside veterans like Ralph Fiennes. A standout moment near the climax, where Spike quietly confronts the idea of death, left an entire Mumbai theatre in stunned silence. That’s the power of Williams’ acting, and Boyle’s direction.

The only odd note? A final sequence that veers into a Trainspotting-meets-Tarantino-style chaos — quirky, bold, but somewhat misplaced in an otherwise grounded narrative. Still, it’s a minor blip in an otherwise near-perfect cinematic experience.

With Nosfearatu bringing noir back to horror, Sinners experimenting with musical horror, and now 28 Years Later blending horror with tender human drama, this might just be the dawn of a new golden age in genre filmmaking.