Intrigue

A group of survivors of the rage virus live on a small island. When one of the group leaves the island on a mission into the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors.

It's been almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory, and now, still in a ruthlessly enforced quarantine, some have found ways to exist amidst the infected. One such group of survivors lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily-defended causeway. When one of the group leaves the island on a mission into the dark heart of the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors as well.

After the initial outbreak of the Rage Virus in 28 jours plus tard (2002), Britain is still unrecognisable. But life still holds strong on Lindisfarne, a well-guarded tidal island connected to the mainland by a narrow causeway. Only the desperate break the strictly enforced quarantine; the rest remain enclosed in fortified communities. However, Jamie is another story; the fearless scavenger must give his 12-year-old son, Spike, a crash course in the real world. But 28 years later, the infected have evolved, patiently waiting for humankind to inch closer to extinction. Now, a haunting question looms over everyone's minds: When sickness adapts to change, where can you hide?—Nick Riganas

The film opens in the Scottish Highlands. A boy named Jimmy (Rocco Haynes) is watching "Teletubbies" with his sisters, until their mother arrives in a panic. She tries to lock the kids in the room for their safety, but people infected by the Rage Virus break through and start attacking. Jimmy escapes, but his sisters aren't so lucky. He runs out of the house to a nearby church, where his father, a priest (Sandy Bachelor), is preparing for the Infected to come for him. Jimmy's father gives him a crucifix necklace to carry before the boy hides. The horde of Infected burst through, infecting the priest as he wanted.

An on screen text states that the Rage Virus laid waste to the UK. It was driven back from continental Europe, and the British Isles was quarantined to contain the virus. Any survivors would have to fend for themselves.

28 years later...a community of survivors has formed a village in Lindisfarne. A man named Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is preparing his son Spike (Alfie Williams) to go outside the gates of the community to kill his first Infected with his bow and arrows as part of a coming-of-age ritual. Spike's mother Isla (Jodie Comer) is ill and spends her days in bed.

The other villagers cheer Spike on as he heads out with Jamie. They go into the forest, where they first come across several obese Infected. The two manage to kill them with their arrows, with Jamie's first kill hitting one of them in the neck. They proceed forward and end up in a house where an Infected is tied upside down. It continues to struggle, and Spike has trouble finding the right opportunity to kill it until it breaks itself free and gets an arrow in the head.

Jamie and Spike move closer up to the mainland. Spike sees a fire nearby, but Jamie tells him not to pay any mind to that area. They come across a pack of Infected, which are led by the stronger and smarter Alpha. The Infected chase the two, but after managing to kill most of them, they hide out in a house until it gets dark. When the time is right, Jamie and Spike start running back to the village, even though the high tide makes the path back harder to get through. The Alpha chases them, but Jamie manages to alert the gatekeepers, and they send a large flaming arrow into the Alpha's chest before letting Jamie and Spike in. The others celebrate their return.

A party is thrown in Spike's honor. He asks one of the elders, Sam (Christopher Fulford), about the area in the mainland with the fire. Sam tells Spike about Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), a supposed madman who laid out hundreds of bodies in a line when Sam had once gone to that area with another survivor. During the festivities, Spike witnesses Jamie going off with another woman and engaging in an affair, shattering his trust in his father.

The next morning, Spike asks Jamie if he knew about Dr. Kelson. Jamie appears quiet and doesn't answer, even as Spike asks if he didn't want to help Isla get better. They get into an argument, leading to Jamie slapping Spike. He quickly regrets his decision, but Spike holds a knife at his father and orders him to stay away from him and Isla.

Spike later takes Isla and leaves Lindisfarne to go to the mainland and find Kelson. Isla goes in and out of lucidity, as she often calls Spike "dad". Meanwhile, a troop of NATO soldiers arrives on the mainland. They are chased by Infected, with some of them falling victim to Rage as well. Three soldiers survive and go through a tunnel, where they are confronted by a new Alpha (Chi Lewis-Parry) that tears one's head off with the spine still attached.

As Spike and Isla keep moving, they are chased by another horde of Infected. They hide in a gas station that is filled with fumes. Just as the Infected break in, a soldier named Erik (Edvin Ryding) shoots the gas and ignites it, blowing all the Infected to Hell. Although Erik is exasperated that Spike cannot help him get back to his men, Spike and Isla join Erik as they keep moving on. They sit together and bond for a while as Erik tells Spike about the world outside the UK.

The trio evade the Infected, but Isla hears one Infected woman screeching inside a bus. Isla sees she is pregnant. She tries to calm the woman down, and the woman appears to lock hands with Isla. After giving birth, the woman goes berserk until Erik shoots her dead. Spike and Isla see that the baby girl is not infected with Rage, but Erik still plans to shoot her. Before he can make a move, the Alpha pulls Erik out and tears his own head and spine out. Spike and Isla run out and are chased by the Alpha until it gets tranquilized by Dr. Kelson. He has named the Alpha "Samson" and has developed his own toxin to keep Samson docile.

Kelson shows Spike and Isla his "Bone Temple", which he has created as a shrine or "memento mori" for the deceased. Kelson has piled all of their skulls into a tower. He takes Erik's head and burns the flesh off, adding the skull to the tower. He determines that the baby was protected by her mother's placenta, which spared her from infection. Kelson does an examination on Isla and determines that she has terminal cancer. Spike is devastated, but Isla accepts her fate and comforts him. Kelson puts Spike to sleep before Isla joins him so that he can mercy kill her. When Spike wakes up, Kelson presents him with his mother's skull. Spike climbs to the top of the skull tower to place Isla's skull there.

The following day, Spike and Kelson must evade Samson again. They jump into a pit, where Samson tries to strangle Kelson, but Spike knocks him out again with one of Kelson's morphine darts. Afterwards, Spike and Kelson part ways. Spike brings the baby, whom he has named Isla, back to Lindisfarne, along with a note for Jamie and the other villagers to take care of the baby since she is clean. Jamie runs out into the river to try and find Spike, but it is high tide and Spike is nowhere to be seen.

28 days later...Spike is eating a fish he caught until he is found by Infected. He kills one but is chased by more until he hits a dead end. Spike is then found by a mysterious blonde man (Jack O'Connell) and his cult of similar-looking followers. He offers Spike help, which he quickly accepts. The cultists then proceed to pull off acrobatic stunts before annihilating the Infected. The man introduces himself as Jimmy..... the same Jimmy from the beginning, as he still carries his father's necklace. He tells Spike that they should become friends.