28 Days Later is a horror masterpiece from 2002, and Netflix subscribers don’t have much time left to watch/rewatch it. Hard as it is to believe nearly 25 years on, the zombie movie genre was practically dead in 2002. By the end of the 1990s, the undead had fallen out of favor and were largely relegated to STV movies.
While the success of Milla Jovovich’s Resident Evil helped revive the genre, it was the first 28 Days Later movie that cemented its comeback. This Danny Boyle movie follows Cillian Murphy’s Jim as he wakes from a coma to find London deserted – aside from the hordes of fast-moving, zombie-like infected that soon give chase.
28 Days Later Is Leaving Netflix On February 1, 2026
February will see some big movies exiting Netflix (for the time being), including 2000’s Charlie’s Angels and Groundhog Day. February 1 is when 28 Days Later will depart the streamer, so subscribers have less than a week left to catch it.
It’s really only the passage of time that decides if a movie is great or not. Some films can be major critical and commercial hits in their day, only to quickly fade from memory. The love and respect 28 Days Later still receives marks it as a true horror great.
Sure, the grainy digital look is a tad ugly now (and wasn’t much prettier back in 2002), but it works for the suffocating tone Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland are aiming for. Its success also paved the way for the likes of Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead, The Walking Dead franchise and video games like Left 4 Dead.
28 Days Later Is Still A Horror Classic
Of course, 28 Days Later also introduced the world to a young Irishman named Cillian Murphy, who went on to quite the healthy career. Apocalyptic zombie films are all but played out in 2026, but there’s an energy and verve to the movie that still works.
Cillian Murphy is set to reprise his role as Jim in the forthcoming finale of the 28 Years Later trilogy.
It’s got a great cast (including Naomie Harris and Brendan Gleeson) and incredible scenes of horror, including the empty London sequence. Still, for all the terror it invokes, 28 Days Later still has a big heart, with the survivors holding on to the notion they can make it through their living nightmare if they hold on.
That’s ultimately what makes 28 Days Later hold up. That’s a lot of humanity and humor spread through nerve-shredding scenes of horror. Boyle and Garland later proved with their 28 Years Later sequels that they still have the same gift for delivering on what audiences want while still subverting expectations.
Source: Netflix