After more than two decades, Danny Boyle and Alex Garland return to their iconic zombie horror franchise with “28 Years Later,” a loose sequel to “28 Days Later.” Through the blood and horror, the duo delivered a highly satisfying and emotional franchise film that places equal weight on terror and tenderness. This builds to a surprisingly heartfelt conclusion full of pathos.
After this emotional payoff, “28 Years Later” ends on a coda to the primary story, teasing the future of the franchise and looping back to the beginning of the film. Simply put, it’s one of the most bizarre movie endings of the decade. But what characters show up at the end of the film, and what cultural figures are they referencing?
Let’s break down the ending and its significance. In case you couldn’t tell, this article contains major spoilers for the events of “28 Years Later.” If you haven’t seen the movie yet, go watch it and then come back. Or don’t. Just don’t go all Rage Virus on me if you get spoiled.
What happens at the end of “28 Years Later”?
“28 Years Later” follows Spike (Alfie Williams), a 12-year-old boy living on the secluded, infection-free island of Lindisfarne, as he takes his first trips onto mainland (and zombie-infested) England. Spike eventually takes his mother, Isla (Jodie Comer), onto the mainland in hopes of finding a doctor who can cure her of her illness. When Spike and Isla reach Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), he informs them that Isla suffers from an aggressive form of cancer in her brain and body. Kelson helps Isla die in peace, allowing Spike to place her skull atop a monument to the fallen.
If you can’t tell, it’s emotionally devastating. I nearly cried just writing this.
Along the way to Dr. Kelson, Spike and Isla come across a pregnant infected woman (Celi Crossland) who, with the help of Isla, delivers an uninfected baby. After the death of his mother, Spike names the baby “Isla,” brings her to Lindisfarne and leaves a note for his father, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Spike then returns to England on his own in a journey of self-discovery, saying he wants to walk until he can’t see the water anymore.
Spike quickly comes under attack from a group of infected who threaten to overwhelm him. From nowhere, a group of saviors emerges, each wearing a track suit and calling themselves some variation of the name “Jimmy”: Jimmy Ink, Jimmy Jones, Jimmy Jimmy, Jimmima. The leader of the pack, Sir Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell) offers to help Spike. His group then jumps to action, flipping and kicking with “Teletubbies” audio playing in the background as they kill some infected with a series of tricks. Sir Jimmy Crystal invites Spike to join them. The scene is shot and edited unlike anything else in the film.
As far as endings go, it’s… odd.
Who is Jimmy?
“28 Years Later” opens with a sequence where a group of young kids watch the British children’s series “Teletubbies” as their parents speak sternly outside. A group of infected then break into the house, with all adults and children dying save for one: a young boy named Jimmy. Jimmy runs to his father, a preacher (Sandy Batchelor), who gives the young boy a necklace of an upside-down crucifix before accepting his “salvation” among the infected. A text card then reads, “28 years later…”
When Sir Jimmy Crystal arrives at the end of the film, he bears the same necklace as the young Jimmy from the prologue. Unless some massive plot twist occurs in the next films, it’s safe to assume O’Connell is portraying an adult version of the same Jimmy.
The prologue isn’t the only mention of Jimmy from the film. Throughout “28 Years Later,” characters come across a number of instances of graffiti promoting an unknown “Jimmy” as some sort of savior. In a particularly disturbing scene, Spike and Jamie find an infected man dangling from the ceiling with the word “JIMMY” carved into his body. O’Connell may be charismatic, but Spike should approach with caution.
Are the Jimmies a reference to something?
Like you wouldn’t believe. For those who don’t know, the gang of Jimmies are all meant to be dressed like Jimmy Savile, a British television personality who was, for a long time, an immensely popular and well-known celebrity. The Jimmies’ track suits, blonde hair and gold jewelry are all giveaways for their Savile inspiration.
Here, Garland and Boyle draw inspiration from a dark character in British history. Following his death in 2011, Savile was exposed as a serial sexual abuser. Hundreds of cases were formally recorded against Savile, the majority of which involved children. While allegations had been made against Savile prior to his death, the extent and severity of his crimes were then unknown.
Why do the Jimmies idolize Jimmy Savile?
When considering the final scene, one has to remember that, in the world of the film, the outbreak of the Rage Virus occurred in 2002. This means that, for most of the characters in “28 Years Later,” culture froze in the early 2000s.
Garland and Boyle play with this idea a number of times throughout the movie. In an early scene, Spike interacts with a Power Ranger toy in his room. After the events of the prologue, the Teletubbies clearly have a profound impact on Sir Jimmy Crystal’s life. An image of the Queen still hangs in Lindisfarne. In the film’s most humorous scene, Spike struggles to understand the concepts of smart phones, delivery drivers and the internet. Even a basic Frisbee confounds the young boy.
These concepts are all baked into “28 Years Later” on a thematic level. Through Lindisfarne and infected Britain as a whole, Boyle and Garland play with ideas of isolationism, memory and culture in the landscape of an ongoing pandemic. As a legacyquel itself, there’s something rewarding about “28 Years Later” playing with the concept of cultural inertia. This film isn’t stuck in the past, but its characters are.
Sir Jimmy Crystal was a child when the infected outbreak occurred. At the time, he likely revered Sevile, as many other children did in 2002. Reports of his crimes were not as prevalent as they would be after his death, and it’s highly unlikely that a child of Jimmy’s age would be aware of such actions. To Sir Jimmy Crystal, Sevile is the same enigmatic figure he considered him as a child. It appears the same goes for all of the Jimmies.
This places the Jimmies ending in an odd space within the larger context of “28 Years Later”: it’s thematically relevant, tonally inconsistent and, at the very least, incredibly bold.
But does it work?
While “28 Years Later” earned broad acclaim upon its release, the ending is by far the most controversial aspect of the film. A cursory scan on social media will show audiences calling it both a triumph and a baffling decision — as well as some viewers who clearly don’t get the reference.
Given Savile’s disturbing place in British culture, the ending of the film has also received criticism for being unnecessary or potentially making light of a sexual abuser.
What happens next?
“28 Years Later” will be followed by a sequel, “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.” The second film has already been shot and directed by Nia DaCosta. It is slated for release Jan. 16, 2026.
A third film was planned by Boyle and Garland pending financing and the reception to the first movie. Given the massive critical and box office success of “28 Years Later,” it’s probably safe to count on the finale coming in the next few years.
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