''28 Days Later'', a 2002 drama/horror film, not to be confused with the movie made in 2000 with Sandra Bullock (called simply ''28 Days''). A literal {{hate plague}} begins taking over England after animal rights eco-terrorists set loose an Infected chimp in a lab at Cambridge University. The [[HatePlague Rage virus]] was an attempt at neutralising violent impulses carried in virus form, but apparently has achieved the opposite effect- and the animal commences to maul the instigators of this plan messily. Cue the cut-away.

'''Spoilers ahead. Be warned.'''

Main character Jim, played by Cillian Murphy, has woken from a coma just after the titular period of infection- waking naked in a totally deserted hospital, in the middle of an eerily abandoned London, with a scarred-over head wound, an impressive growth of facial hair and no idea of what's going on. He wanders around the city, plastic bag of Pepsi cans in hand, while suspenseful music plays, meets some [[ZombieGait non-shambling]], [[HatePlague angry-ass]] Infected pseudo-zombies, teams up with fellow survivors and kicks some ass in search of the escape and cure promised by the radio broadcasts from a distant barricade. Right?
Well, not really. The promised 'cure' is far from what it seems, and the scale of the infection has yet to be realised.
Survivor Selena (Naomie Harris, of ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' fame) is a realist, considering survival the only option and Jim's naiveté a hindrance. Frank (Brendan Gleeson!) and Hannah, father and daughter, see things less bleakly and suffer for it.

Christopher Eccleston is in it, too. [[HeyItsThatGuy You know,]] [[DoctorWho the Ninth Doctor.]]

The premise is played for drama, and manages to avoid not only [[NotUsingTheZedWord ever actually saying 'zombie']] but the usual zombie tropes, depicting the Infected as they are called as agile and mindlessly violent rather than hungry, and the infection itself as devastating, capable of toppling a society and basically causing a small scale apocalypse due to the panic caused and ease of transmission. Expect nerdy backdraft on whether it's a zombie movie, nevertheless. The film did fairly well at the box office and has spawned several comics exploring the lacuna of time in between the initial outbreak of infection and the film, as well as a [[{{Discontinuity}} sequel certain fans would rather pretend didn't happen]], 28 Weeks Later (which has a [[JustBugsMe/TwentyEightWeeksLater Just Bugs Me]] page, just in case... you know), and another film in the works for [[strike:2009]] 2011 ([[{{ExecutiveMeddling}} damn Fox..]]).

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This film provides examples of:

* AbandonedHospital - Where Jim wakes up. [[spoiler:If one of the {{Alternate Ending}}s had been implemented, this would have had been a BookEnd - he dies in an abandoned hospital.]]
* ActionSurvivor: Jim and the other survivors.
* AnimalWrongsGroup: The cause of Britain going to zombie hell? Activists releasing infected monkeys.
* BadassNormal: Before the outbreak, Selina was an ordinary pharmacist. Afterwards, she's a machete-chopping, motolov-flinging badass.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: After being subject to a few too many rounds of cruelty and knowing Selena and Hannah are going to [[spoiler: get raped by West's men]], Jim proves why the cute ones are the ones to watch out for.
* BreakTheCutie: Jim. He wakes up from his coma, naked and alone in an abandoned hospital and [[ItGotWorse it keeps going downhill from there]], right up until the inevitable snap.
* CompleteMonster: [[spoiler: The soldiers with the exception of Farrel and well...Mailer.]]
* CosyCatastrophe
* CrazySurvivalist: Although Selina isn't exactly crazy (yet), she's incredibly ruthless and will leave anyone behind if they can't catch up, distrusts others, and openly mocks any plans for salvation. "Staying alive is as good as it gets." She warms up once she's spent some time with the others, though.
* DriverOfABlackCab: Frank avoids this stereotype, but a deleted scene shows Selena, Mark and Hannah taking turns driving his black cab and doing their best London cabbie impersonation, much to his annoyance. The DVD commentary mentions that you can't drive a black cab without experiencing an irresistible urge to do this.
* DeathByPragmatism: Subverted.
* DownerEnding: Danny Boyle has stated that the "true ending" has Jim dying in the hospital after being shot by the soldiers.
* DyeingForYourArt: The actors playing soldiers attended a three-day boot camp to ensure that they'd carry themselves properly.
* EyeScream: Jim does this to [[spoiler:one of the soldiers.]]
* GhostCity
* HazardousWater
* HighPressureBlood
* LateToTheParty
* LawOfConservationOfDetail
* LoopingLines: Cillian Murphy rerecorded all of his lines Post Production.
** According to [[WordOfGod the DVD commentary]], there were a lot of scenes where dialogue was added or altered in post. Some scenes were even shot with the intention of making the inevitable ADR easier (ie, the speaking character offscreen or in shadows).
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Nice job breaking out those lab monkeys.
* NotAZombie - Jim's first encounter with a zombie is a former priest. He is naturally reluctant to kill the zombie.
* OfficerAndAGentleman: Played with in Major West, who [[spoiler:uses it to sucker in the women as sex toys for his men to keep up morale.]]
* OnlyOneName
* SceneryGorn - The directors in their commentary were amazed at how they achieved a sense of ruin by ''blocking traffic for a few seconds''.
** The film also has some really beautifully framed and executed shots... that they shot with DV cameras to give it a really gritty feel.
* ShirtlessScene
** [[StupidSexyFlanders Stupid Sexy Murphy]]
* TookALevelInBadass: Jim
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: Jim's most harrowing moment of despair is when he dreams he's been abandoned.
* YourMileageMayVary: This is a fairly polarizing film for some. ''Weeks'' even more so.
* ZombieApocalypse - Only for Britain.
* ZombieInfectee: The Rage Virus is too fast acting for this to last long, but the man traveling with Selina is one, begging for his life despite being infected. The father averts this, knowing he's been infected and trying to get his daughter to stay away.
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