28 Days Later
NZ release: 31 January 2003
Violence, offensive language & horror Rated on: 09 October 2003
What’s it about?
A group of survivors attempt to find sanctuary four weeks after a strange, untreatable virus spreads throughout the United Kingdom.
The facts
- Directed by Danny Boyle
- Starring Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer), Naomi Harris (No Time To Die), Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who).
- English language, Spanish language
- Runtime: 114 minutes
- First instalment in the 28 Days Later series
- Widely regarded as a film that revolutionised the genre of zombie-horror films
Why did it get this rating?
This film was classified by Te Mana Whakaatu, Classification Office. You can find out more about classification process and ratings here.
28 Days Later is intended to evoke strong reactions and test your tolerance for graphic imagery. If you do not handle horror or zombie themes well, it may be a film to skip or at least approach with caution.
Graphic violence & gore
The film has very intense, unsettling scenes with regular violence and gore throughout the entire film. It involves violence towards women, children, and animals, which may be particularly distressing for some viewers.
Most of the violence comes from people who are infected with a rage-inducing virus, where they start vomiting blood and goo, their eyes become bloodshot, and they act psychotic, trying to infect non-infected people. They do so by biting people and ripping them apart, and disturbing sounds like gnawing, crunching, and tearing of body pieces are clearly heard.
Some of the strongest moments of violence include:
- People are shot, knocked unconscious, stabbed, and hacked to death with various weapons. In one particularly disturbing scene, a woman hacks a man to death who she mistakenly thought was infected. He pleads for his life as his blood is sprayed on the walls.
- A man gouges another man's eyes with his thumbs while the other man screams. The scene is close-up, drawn-out and contains very strong violence.
- A boy leaps towards a man growling and hissing at him. We do not see the man kill the boy, but this is implied when we see the man wiping blood from his bat and mentioning how he killed a boy.
- Infected people are blown up into the air by mines, burned with firebombs, shot by men with guns, and seen dying from starvation (some of these scenes are very gory).
- An infected monkey tackles a woman to the floor, bites and chews on her neck, infecting her.
- A dead monkey is seen lying on its back with its chest cut open (we see some bloody tissue and ribs).
- Floors and streets are covered with many dead bodies, including an infant.
- A character watches a film where men are hung and killed.
Offensive language
Words such as “f*ck,” “c*nts,” and “b*tch” are used regularly in the film. In one scene, graffiti can be seen that reads “the end is extremely f*cking nigh.”
Horror
The film revolves around a widespread virus that is turning people into feral, screaming creatures filled with intense rage and a desire to kill and infect others, by any means possible. It contains many jumpscares, frightening scenes, and a scary depiction of infected, zombie-like people who sprint very fast. These elements combined with the realistic style of filmmaking increases the tension and may shock some viewers.
The most frightening scenes include:
- We see people become infected and start chasing the main characters closely in attempts to kill them. These scenes may make some viewers nervous or scared, especially when the characters in the film are helpless.
- In the opening sequence of the film, we see infected, aggravated chimpanzees which may be distressing for some viewers.
Animal cruelty
A monkey is tied to a table and forced to watch horrifically violent videos whilst many infected monkeys scream from their cages around the room.
Sexual violence themes
Soldiers attempt to capture many women and subject them to sexual assault. In one scene, they give drugs to a female minor to make her sleepy, so she can’t feel the sexual assault they are about to do to her. However, they are interrupted before anything happens.
Suicide
One of the characters discovers that his parents have committed suicide using sleepings pills and alcohol, finding them dead in their bed and weeping over them. He reads a very emotional note they wrote him.
A man finds a large room, with a foul smell, that is full of dead bodies that appear as if they all died by suicide.
Someone finds a dead woman with her skin turned blue. It is implied she committed suicide to avoid being killed by the zombies.
Helplines:
The sexual violence and suicide could be upsetting for some viewers, especially for those who have gone through similar experiences. If you are struggling with what you have seen on-screen please reach out for help. If you or someone you know needs to talk:
