There are a lot of great zombies movies out there, and since it’s almost Halloween, you might want to settle in for the night and queue up a spooky, sort of gross zombie movie like “Dawn of the Dead” or even a funny one like “Zombieland.” There are a ton of different zombie movies across a ton of different streaming services, but luckily, one of the very best zombie movies of the 2000s is streaming for free on Pluto TV.
So which movie is it? That would be Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s 2002 film “28 Days Later,” which stars future Oscar winner Cillian Murphy as a bike courier named Jim who wakes up in a London hospital after a devastating accident only to find the city completely abandoned. All humans have, apparently, disappeared, and what Jim doesn’t know is that while he was in a coma, animal rights activists freed imprisoned chimpanzees who were exposed to a virus that causes extreme rage, violence, and bloodlust. After stumbling into a horde of infected zombies, Jim discovers two survivors — Selena (Naomie Harris) and Mark (Noah Huntley) — and eventually, after Mark is bitten, Jim and Selena find safe haven with a man named Frank (Brendan Gleeson) and his young daughter. From there, they have to figure out how to keep surviving in this dangerous, largely abandoned, and violent world.
“28 Days Later” was an immediate critical and commercial success upon its release, earning solid reviews and making $82 million off a modest $8 million budget (which is pretty good for an original horror movie, even if it’s part of a well-trod genre). Again, the movie is streaming on Pluto TV right now, which is pretty great … and there’s actually even more good news. There are two sequels to “28 Days Later,” and one of them happens to be a great recent release.
The first sequel to 28 Days Later, titled 28 Weeks Later, released five years after the original
Five years after Danny Boyle introduced “28 Days Later” to the world, the sequel “28 Weeks Later” was released … but you should know there is a catch, and it’s that there was a big shakeup behind the scenes. Due to his previous commitment to the sci-fi movie “Sunshine” (which happens to also star Cillian Murphy), Danny Boyle didn’t direct the sequel, handing the reins to Spanish director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, who took a script concept by Rowan Joffé and overhauled it with co-writers Enrique López-Lavigne and Jesús Olmo. Based on the title of “28 Weeks Later,” it’s pretty obvious when this sequel takes place … and 28 weeks after that initial outbreak, the United States military lends a hand to Great Britain and helps bring its uninfected citizens to safe zones.
The first evacuated people we meet in “28 Weeks Later” are Don Harris (Robert Carlyle) and his kids Tammy (Imogen Poots) and Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton), the first of whom lies to his kids about the fact that he abandoned their mother Alice (Catherine McCormack) to save his own sorry hide. Eventually — after virus carrier Alice is found and passes it on to her husband — Don falls victim to the infection and goes on a rampage, leaving Tammy and Andy to find safety with active military members like helicopter pilot Flynn (Harold Perrineau), sniper Doyle (Jeremy Renner), and medic Scarlet (Rose Byrne).
Eventually, Andy and Tammy escape … but Andy, like his later mother, becomes an asymptomatic carrier. After the kids escape to France, we learn the virus has spread there, explaining how easy it is to continue spreading this infection — and explaining how the sequel, “28 Years Later,” is even possible. (Also, despite the director change-up, “28 Weeks Later” was yet another critical and commercial success, so that’s good.)
Over two decades after 28 Days Later, Danny Boyle gave the world a truly excellent legacy sequel with 28 Years Later
In 2025, writer Alex Garland and director Danny Boyle finally reunited for a legacy sequel, “28 Weeks Later,” which introduces an entirely new aspect into the franchise (namely, a dark and dangerous cult). After another glimpse of the original outbreak in 2002 — witnessed by a young boy named Jimmy Crystal, then played by Rocco Haynes — we fast forward the titular 28 years to 2030 and meet a family still living under an enforced quarantine, because the virus is still active in mainland England despite being eradicated (supposedly) from the rest of the European continent. In a community on a small island called Lindisfarme, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) scavenges for his mysteriously and chronically ill wife Isla (Jodie Comer) and their 12-year-old son Spike (Alfie Williams), but when Jamie brings Spike to the mainland for a hunting ritual for the boy’s birthday, they encounter packs of infected zombies all branded with the name “Jimmy.” (Ominous!)
Desperate for medical care for his mother after spotting what seems to be fire and boats further into the mainland — indicating some sort of civilization — Spike convinces Isla to follow him, and the two eventually encounter Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) after leaving Jamie behind. Without spoiling the rest of this incredibly layered and anxiety-inducing movie, “28 Years Later” reaches a truly thrilling conclusion … and perfectly sets up its immediate sequel “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” which shot alongside “28 Years Later” and is set to release in January 2026.
For now, “28 Days Later” is streaming on Pluto TV, “28 Weeks Later” is streaming on Hulu, and “28 Years Later” is streaming on Netflix.