Andrea and Alex cross the pond to revisit Danny Boyle’s post-apocalyptic film that brought the zombie genre back to (un)life. From virology to bodily autonomy to Brexit, there’s a lot to chew on.
Class of 2022 Merch is here! Get our limited edition design with art by Laura Hokstad on whatever TeePublic can print it on.
Toronto Live Show! Come see us at The Garrison in Toronto on December 7 to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. Tickets are PWYC with all proceeds going to Sistering.
REQUIRED READING
28 Days Later. Dir. Danny Boyle, 2002.
EXTRA CREDIT
Varieties of Zombieism: Approaching Comparative Political Economy through “28 Days Later” and “Wild Zero”. Derek Hall’s examination of the metaphorical allusions in relation to the economy.
Britain: Rough month or road to ruin? This episode of CBC’s daily podcast Front Burner covers the on-going strife in the UK from Brexit to now.
Fast Zombie/Slow Zombie: Food Writing, Horror Movies, and Agribusiness Apocalypse by Michael Newbury. How the food economy is reflected in the modern zombie’s increased appetite.
Preparedness 101: Zombie Pandemic. The CDC’s decidedly playful attempt to teach the importance of emergency preparedness through a zombie narrative.
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Hi!
In my podcast app (Antennapod, same thing in Podcast Addict), I can see that there is a new episode, but I can’t download it; there is no media file.
Same thing with older episodes, like 2018s Halloween.
Is everything behind a Patreon paywall now?
Kind regards,
Marilotte
Hi Marilotte! The new ep not populating in our RSS feed was an error on our part – I think I’ve fixed it, so try again shortly? Sorry about that.
What a great episode! My favorite zombie film. thank you for taking this one on. I did not know about the alternative endings but am glad they landed on the one they did.
Love love this film and this is a great episode, thank you. The ‘campaign of rape’ is so much scarier than being alone, or becoming infected, or being chased by animalistic predators. The twist in that final third? Oof. Gut punch.
Great episode, thank you! This has been a favorite of mine for years.
Two things: My impression on first viewing was that the scenes with the rage zombies were extremely bloody and graphic, but a rewatch changed my mind. I was right that the movie is indeed terrifying, but those scenes weren’t gory and the violence was more implied. I don’t mind gore at all (I’m a fan of nearly every movie in this subgenre) but Boyle’s ability to make the viewer think they saw more than they did was impressive.
Also noteworthy is the scene with Jim finding his parents’ bodies. It was so well done, not just for the reasons you stated in the podcast, but movies, especially horror movies, rarely give any character the chance to just sit and grieve. Jim’s quiet scene felt real, like the movie just stopped for a moment to reflect on what an impact such an enormous loss would have and by extension, how profound all the losses were for everyone in that world. It took a moment to let the viewers feel the overwhelming sadness that would really occur in that scenario, to me it was a brave choice instead of quickly moving to the next peril for fear of losing the audience. There were several quieter scenes reminding us of the humanity of it all, but that was my favorite one. I really appreciate those choices by Danny Boyle and to me, those quiet moments are what makes this film really stand out while at the same time, it’s a truly frightening film – made even more so because you grow to care so much about the characters.
I like the ending, and I like that Jim lived. I’ve got no problem with downbeat endings (horror fan after all), but in 2022 – after years of GoT & TWD type bleakness and after recent real life horror like the pandemic & depressing world news that never seems to end, that bit of hope and positivity for characters I loved who had been through so much makes me appreciate the film that much more.