With long gaps between sequels now the industry norm, it still feels like a missed opportunity that 28 Weeks Later (2007) never received a follow-up exactly 28 years on. Instead, 17 years passed before Danny Boyle returned with 28 Years Later, a film that earned widespread acclaim and an impressive $151 million at the box office. That success clearly mattered, because a fourth entry had already been filmed. Rather than jumping ahead to something like 28 Decades Later, however, the franchise pivots sharply with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, which begins directly where the previous film ended.

That ending introduced one of the franchise’s most unsettling images: Jack O’Connell in a tracksuit, sporting a blonde bob, cheap jewelry, and the feral charisma of a twisted Jimmy Savile tribute act. Appropriately—or disturbingly—his character is named Sir Jimmy Crystal. Even more unsettling, every member of his cult-like gang carries a Jimmy-themed name: Jimmima (Emma Laird), Jimmy Jimmy (Robert Rhodes), Jimmy Ink (Erin Kellyman), Jimmy Jones (Maura Bird), Jimmy Dox (Sam Locke), and Jimmy Snake (Ghazi Al Ruiffai). Strangely, there’s no Jimmy Riddle. Caught in their orbit is Spike (Alfie Williams), who escaped the infected countryside only to fall into something arguably worse.

Spike now faces an impossible choice: venture out alone among the infected, or stay with the Jimmy’s and survive—at the cost of participating in their stomach-churning initiation rituals. Having witnessed an appalling ceremony at the end of 28 Years Later, he finds himself trapped between fear and morality, safety and savagery.

Elsewhere in the countryside lives Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), introduced in the previous film and now residing in the macabre Bone Temple itself—a fortress built from the skulls of the infected. Kelson isn’t alone. Also returning is Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry), the towering, naked Alpha infected who leads the roaming hordes. Smothered head to toe in iodine, Kelson has been using his medical expertise to temper the infected’s cannibalistic impulses. With Samson, in particular, he’s seeing remarkable progress, and fleeting glimpses of the man the giant once was begin to surface. Kelson’s research may represent humanity’s last real hope, while Sir Jimmy Crystal’s cult threatens to accelerate its extinction.

Once again penned by Alex Garland, the story expands the world significantly, and from the opening moments it earns its 18 certificate. The film is relentlessly brutal, featuring scenes of gore that at times verge on gleeful, deeply uncomfortable sadism. Directed by Nia DaCosta—who proved her horror credentials with Candyman—The Bone Temple pushes the violence further than its predecessor as the parallel storylines inch closer to collision.

Both O’Connell and Fiennes deliver outstanding performances. O’Connell is chillingly committed as Sir Jimmy Crystal, while Fiennes brings a strange, unsettling warmth to Kelson. Horror fans will not be disappointed by the bloodshed, which builds toward a climactic sequence that echoes last year’s Get Away by raiding Iron Maiden’s back catalogue—this time unleashing The Number of the Beast to electrifying effect. The scene not only lands with ferocious impact but also sets the stage for what will be the third—or technically fifth—and final chapter in this unofficial trilogy.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is a brutal, confident continuation of the franchise, one that deepens its mythology while delivering the visceral thrills fans expect. Whether experienced on the big screen or revisited later through Flixtor movies online, it stands as a worthy and savage next step in the ever-evolving ‘28’ saga.