History YMMV / TwentyEightDaysLater

** Creator/CillianMurphy is now known as Scarecrow in ''Film/BatmanBegins'' and ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. He also played Robert Fischer Jr., the physical MacGuffin of ''Film/{{Inception}}'', Jackson Rippner from ''Film/RedEye'', Damien O'Donovan from ''Film/TheWindThatShakesTheBarley'', Pieter in ''Film/GirlWithAPearlEarring'', Capa from ''Film/{{Sunshine}}'', Thomas Shelby in ''Series/PeakyBlinders''... let's just say that while the role of Jim didn't make him a star overnight, it still kick-started his career, as he received a big push after this movie.

* FanonDiscontinuity: Not the movie itself, but rather the sequel tie-in comic book series by BOOM! Studios. A lot of the fandom likes to ignore the comic book series' events, even if fanfictions like ''Fanfic/DeathOfANation'' still make mythology gags to it, primarily because of the massive (and illogical) HappyEndingOverride the comics pulled with Jim getting arrested and sentenced to death by firing squad for the justified killings of Major West and his men. It probably didn't help that the comics had an original character supplant Jim as Selena's love interest.

* CatharsisFactor: After watching for half hour as [[spoiler: the soldiers are anywhere between plain jerks to willing rapists and murderers]], the finale, in which [[spoiler: Jim kills or cause death of all of them in quick succession while saving Selena and Hannah]] is immensely satisfying. On top of it all, the two worst of the lot get the most gruesome and unpleasant death possible.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
** Is Major Henry West really [[spoiler: a ManipulativeBastard, or is he a good man driven insane by the situation surrounding him?]]
** The rest of the soldiers too. [[spoiler: Are they really driven mad and gone monstrous enough to rape innocent women? How many of them would have actually gone through with it? Some theorise that they may have raped Selena but would have stopped [[EvenEvilHasStandards short of raping Hannah too]]]]. Notably one of the soldiers is seen shaking his head sadly as they leave Hannah and Selena to change.

** The idea that [[HatePlague a contagion]] could turn the populous into [[RedEyesTakeWarning red-eyed]] murderous [[AxCrazy psychopaths]] was around since the 1994 video game [[{{VideoGame/Quarantine}} Quarantine]]. Both experiments had GoneHorriblyWrong from their original purposes as rage suppressors, into something quite the opposite of an inhibitor. The only difference is the film uses a virus whereas the game uses a behavior altering chemical.

** Creator/NaomieHarris played Tia Dalma in the [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest second]] and [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd third]] ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' films. She portrays [[spoiler:Moneypenny]] in Creator/DanielCraig's ''Film/JamesBond'' films (specifically, ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'' and ''Film/{{Spectre}}'') and received an Oscar nomination for her role in ''Film/{{Moonlight}}''.

** Similarly, Creator/GeorgeRomero's ''other'' zombie movie ''Film/TheCrazies1973'' featured a virus that turned the infected into homicidal killers.

** Go up to a group of fans of this movie and ask one simple question - 'is ''28 Days Later'' a zombie movie?' Then stand back and watch the ensuing punch-up.

** While this movie popularized fast zombies, it was not the first to do so as earlier zombie films such as ''Film/TheReturnOfTheLivingDead'' had zombies fully capable of running.

* WinBackTheCrowd: A meta example, this [[Film/TheRing was]] [[Film/JeepersCreepers one]] [[Film/DonnieDarko of]] [[Film/DogSoldiers many]] [[Film/HouseOf1000Corpses movies]] from the early 2000’s often seen by horror fans as a return to form for the genre after it was criticized [[SeasonalRot in the mid to late 90’s for focusing too much on the self aware, teenager oriented meta angle, while lacking in true scares and suspense]].

* GenreTurningPoint: Most prior film depictions of zombies had followed the template set down by ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968'' and its sequels, where zombies were slow and shambling, had little-to-no capability for thought, and {{Zombie Infectee}}s could last for days before succumbing to their infection. This film's template of fast, extremely aggressive zombies who can turn other victims in much faster timescales (hours at best, ''seconds'' at worst) became more the norm in the decades ahead, though by no means universal.

* HoYay: Mixed with some FoeYay in that Henry seems really fond of Jim, constantly touching him, and while he [[spoiler:promises women for his soldiers, he himself doesn't seem that interested in them beyond some vague rambling about "The Future"]].

* WhatAnIdiot:
** The researcher who couldn't come up with a more convincing explanation for why the animals shouldn't be let out of the cages other than "Rage". "Oh hey, they're carrying a highly infectious and dangerous disease we're studying for god knows what horrible reason" [[PoorCommunicationKills might have been just a wee bit more convincing.]]
** Jim stumbles into a church where its entire nave is filled with bloodied corpses, he stares at the bodies for what seems like an eternity. Then utters "Hallo?" which of course, gets no response but instead attracts the attention of [[PlayingPossum several infected]].
** Jim wanders off from the group into a restaurant when they stop to get gas. Selena reminds him they have enough food, he sarcastically says he's looking for cheeseburgers - but he ends up getting attacked and having to kill an infected child.
** Jim decides to light a candle in his house while standing near a window. This is after he has been brought up to speed on the state of the world and how the infected are everywhere outside. This ends up getting Mark killed when the infected burst in and he gets injured, forcing Selena to put him down before he can turn.

* IdiotPlot:
** Monkeys infected with a deadly and highly contagious virus, that makes them super aggressive and can spread by the slightest scratch or bite are held in steel frame cages? Check! A scientist discovers activists trying to release the monkeys, and tries to get them to stop by cryptically telling them the monkeys are infected with "Rage" and leaving it at that? Check! Said activists see said scientists getting all panicked about it, but don't bother finding out what he is so afraid of? Check, check, and double check!
** Jim walks into an abandoned gas station, alone, because "we don't have any cheeseburgers." His companion Selena reminds him that they have plenty of food, but by God he wants those cheeseburgers. Surprise surprise, Jim finds a zombie in the store and has to fight it off on his own. At this point, everyone is holding the idiot ball. Jim is risking not only his own life, but everyone else's as well. What happens if he gets turned? Meanwhile, Selena, instead of restraining him or telling him he can't go in, shrugs her shoulders and walks away. This particular episode is egregious because it doesn't even drive the plot, only some minor dialogue later in the story. A soldier tells Jim that there's no way he could have gotten this far without killing someone. Well, he could have if he and his buddies weren't all holding the idiot ball.

** Creator/BrendanGleeson (the father who joins the first two midway through the film) is a well-respected character actor whose first major role was in ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'' and went on to play Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody in the ''Film/HarryPotter'' films and Ken Daley in ''Film/InBruges''. Gleeson, an Irishman, also played [[FakeNationality Winston Churchill]] in the HBO TV movie ''Into The Storm''.

** While this movie popularized fast zombies, it was not the first to do so as earlier zombie films such as ''Film/ReturnOfTheLivingDead'' had zombies fully capable of running.

* OlderThanTheyThink: The idea that [[HatePlague a contagion]] could turn the populous into [[RedEyesTakeWarning red-eyed]] murderous [[AxCrazy psychopaths]] was around since the 1994 video game [[{{VideoGame/Quarantine}} Quarantine]]. Both experiments had GoneHorriblyWrong from their original purposes as rage suppressors, into something quite the opposite of an inhibitor. The only difference is the film uses a virus whereas the game uses a behavior altering chemical.