All notes and summary below by Schuyler Lystad (2006).

Notes:
Jim: Cillian Murphy
Naomie Harris: Selene
Frank: Brendan Gleeson
Hannah: Megan Burns
Major Henry West: Christopher Eccleston

Director: Danny Boyle
Writer: Alex Garland

Type of Zombies: Not only are the bodies dead, but the brains have gone absolutely psycho. It looks like these guys have gone mad, and actually get pleasure out of vomiting blood on the faces of their victims.

Summary:
Animal rights activists break into a lab where the test animals are monkeys, and scientists are developing a virus they call Rage. Before the scientists can warn the activists, they set the monkeys free, which attack and transmit the disease.

28 days later, Jim, a bike courier, and coma patient, wakes up in a hospital to realize it's abandoned. No one answers his calls of "Hello!" even as he begins to wander the streets of London. He wanders into a church and finally sees some people, only to have them begin chasing him.

Before he can be caught, Selene and Mark break in and save him, bringing him into a store so they can find some food. There's little to eat besides what's in vending machines, and over-the-counter medicine to reduce the pain when his sugar rush crashes. A drop of blood from these infected people will transmit the virus, and Mark gets a little splashed on him. Selene mercilessly kills him, and she and Jim leave the store in search of a safe place to stay.

They see Christmas lights blinking on the top of an apartment building balcony, and head in that direction. There they find Frank, and his daughter Hannah, who have managed to survive behind Frank's traps and riot gear. Eventually they pick up an emergency broadcast repeating on the radio, and decide to head where the military claims it can protect them.

After Frank dies, they arrive, and the army does indeed save them, but at the cost of Selene and Hannah's freedom. They're picked to help relax the men, and when Jim argues, they knock him out, and take him to the woods to shoot him. He escapes, and begins killing the military men one by one, allowing some infected people into the mansion they protect. He arrives in time to save Selene and Hannah, and they find a car to escape. Jim takes a bullet in the stomach, and as he's losing consciousness, the car rams the gate to the mansion, breaking free.

28 days later, Jim wakes up in a quiet country house, to see Selene sewing. All the infected people have died off from lack of food, and the girls have been constructing a giant "HELLO" out of cloth. The movie ends when a fighter pilot that does regular rounds in that area of the country sees it, and radios in.

Rating:
R for strong violence and gore, language and nudity.

Interesting Facts:
-- Leonardo DiCaprio and Ewan McGregor were offered the role of Jim. -- The Director even now insists that this isn't a zombie movie. -- The fighter pilot at the end is speaking Finnish. He says "Lähetätkö helikopterin?" ("Can you please send a helicopter?").

Commentary:
This is a good old fashioned Outbreak in England scenario, and it's done really well. The actors were perfect, there was the right mix of gore and drama, hopelessness is pervasive, and you have no idea what's going to happen next the entire time. Plus the DVD has a hilarious alternate ending that never got beyond storyboard.
Score: A