28 Years Later talk (Patreon)

My 16 year old daughter Maggie visited me this week and being the cheap movie night, I really had a desire to see 28 Years Later. She had never seen the other 2 films and I myself had only seen the first one a couple times, but I absolutely love it and the work of Danny Boyle and Alex Garland in particular. I also am a huge fan of filmmakers being modern and innovative and the whole "shot on iPhones and drones" aesthetic made me think "I absolutely have to see this in a theater". What exactly does an iPhone film look like on a huge screen?

Long story short, not only did I adore the film on every level, I was actually haunted by it because one of the situations the 12 year old protagonist has to deal with- the climax of the film- is something I more or less had to deal with in real life. I didn't think of it in the theater but it's been on my mind the last day. I am not sure when I've had a film affect me this directly.

It's a glorious piece of art that can be appreciated on many levels.

• A thrilling horror film

• something of pastoral beauty one can see in other dystopian films like Flow or Annihilation where people are just gone

• a reflection of Brexit and Covid where isolationism and quarantine and self-mythologizing of exaggerated histories are common

• a groundbreaking piece of cinema in both the visuals and sound design (which defies description but it is SO strange and compelling, I've seen it brought up in interviews).

• a coming of age story of a child learning completely different lessons from a father and mother

• a movie in the classic mold of having many flavors - being scary AND funny AND earnest/ heartfelt AND gory AND surreal AND futuristic AND borderline medieval.

Moreso it inspired me to write a song about it (and my own similar experience) and now I'm visualizing the kind of dystopian story I can tell in empty landscapes with few characters and iPhone footage placed in unusual places and innovative sound design.

Anyways! Wanted to give a big recommendation to the film while it is in theaters!