28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE Ending Explained: How The Movie Sets Up The Trilogy's Final Chapter - SPOILERS

28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE Ending Explained: How The Movie Sets Up The Trilogy's Final Chapter - SPOILERS

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is now playing in theaters, but where does the sequel leave its leads heading into Danny Boyle's conclusion to the trilogy?

By JoshWilding - Jan 15, 2026 08:01 AM EST
Filed Under: Horror
Source: FearHQ.com

This article was originally published on FearHQ.com.

It's been less than a year since Danny Boyle's 28 Years Later was released, but Nia DaCosta's 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is now playing in theaters. 

The sequel picks up right after the previous instalment's cliffhanger, with Spike (Alfie Williams) face-to-face with the twisted gang of Jimmys. Their leader, the sadistic Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal (Jack O'Connell), tells the boy that he can only join his inner circle if he kills a Jimmy.

A reluctant Spike succeeds and meets Jimmy Ink (Erin Kellyman) and Jimmima (Emma Laird). 

Meanwhile, Dr. Kelson discovers that the Alpha, Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry), has become addicted to morphine and keeps returning to the Bone Temple for his latest fix. Despite being infected by the Rage Virus, Samson becomes increasingly more lucid and eventually starts speaking when treated with anti-psychotics. 

Spike realises that Sir Jimmy is a Satanist and is horrified by what he witnesses from the gang as the days pass. With their numbers eventually depleted, Jimmy visits Kelson and demands that he pretend to be Satan to help control the Jimmys. 

Forced to oblige, Kelson plays along, drugging the gang with a hallucinogenic substance before performing a pyrotechnics-filled lip sync performance of Iron Maiden's "The Number of the Beast." However, realising that Spike is now among them, he tries to coax the Jimmys into crucifying their leader in a bid to free the teenager he first encountered in the previous movie.

Jimmy stabs Kelson, and in the chaos that follows, Spike does the same to the twisted gang leader. Ink crucifies Jimmy on an inverted cross before leaving with Spike (revealing that her real name is Kelly).

Samson—now fully cured—shows up and thanks the dying Kelson before carrying him away. As for Jimmy, he's killed by an infected after hallucinating that Samson is Satan. 

That's where we leave 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple's leads, but there's one final scene as Cillian Murphy's Jim returns. You can learn more about that here.

In a continuation of the epic story, Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) finds himself in a shocking new relationship, with consequences that could change the world as they know it. Spike's (Alfie Williams) encounter with Jimmy Crystal (Jack O'Connell) becomes a nightmare he can't escape. In the world of The Bone Temple, the infected are no longer the greatest threat to survival - the inhumanity of the survivors can be stranger and more terrifying.

Directed by Nia DaCosta and written by Alex Garland, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is produced by Andrew Macdonald, Peter Rice, Bernard Bellew, Danny Boyle, and Alex Garland. Cillian Murphy serves as executive producer. The movie also stars Erin Kellyman and Chi Lewis-Parry.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple arrives in theaters on January 16, 2026. 

About The Author:
JoshWilding
Member Since 3/13/2009
Comic Book Reader. Film Lover. WWE and F1 Fan. Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic and ComicBookMovie.com's #1 contributor.
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