28 Days Later

Twenty eight days after a deadly virus escapes from a British research facility, a handful of London residents scramble to survive as the city collapses around them. The infected move with terrifying speed and rage, replacing reason with blind impulse, and even familiar streets become traps. With limited supplies and constant danger outside, the group learns to trust only what little they can share. They form a fragile shelter, facing hunger, fear, and the pressure to abandon principles for safety. The story follows their precarious efforts to endure another day while the world beyond fights for a cure and a plea for help.

Directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland, the film drops audiences into a lean, urgent mood. It originated as an original screenplay rather than an adaptation, featuring Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, and Brendan Gleeson.

The film helped redefine modern horror by introducing fast moving infected and a grim, immediate realism that felt almost documentary like. Its relentless pace and stripped down production inspired a wave of imitators and reshaped British genre cinema, leaving a lasting mark on pop culture.

Critics welcomed the film for its taut direction, intense atmosphere, and strong performances, especially Murphy's anxious Jim. Themes of survival ethics, loss of civility, and the fragility of social order run beneath the action, prompting viewers to consider what people sacrifice to stay alive.