28 Days Later

Written for the screen by Alex Garland (the author of The Beach and The Tesseract), 28 Days Later follows what happens after a virus is inadvertently unleashed on the British public. Spreading quickly, the virus turns ordinary people into crazed killers and decimates Britain. Some 28 days after the public was first exposed, Jim (Murphy) a bike courier awakens in a deserted hospital, unaware of what carnage has occurred. With the help of a couple of fellow survivors, including Selena (Harris), Jim sets out to salvage what is left of civilisation.

28 Days Later is one of those films that sounds an awful lot more interesting than it actually is. The premise hints at innovative for a time, but Garland is inexperienced in the medium and this becomes apparent with his treatment of the characters and the plot. There's little development on either front and while his ideas are often interesting, he runs out of steam with them far too early. Boyle's direction is, as usual, highly stylised and through the medium of digital video, he achieves an eerie atmosphere, which helps things a great deal. Unfortunately this sense of the unworldly extends to the performances - Murphy and Harris are limited - while the only actor who does anything with his character is Gleeson.