This film was so violent the woman next to me walked out (Image: IMDb)
When I was a teenager, my friends and I would run a competition where whoever could write the most violent, blood-soaked and gory short story would be declared the winner. Last night, I went to go and see 28 Years Later – The Bone Temple and saw that this little game clearly survived the years and is now a blockbuster tactic. I am no stranger to horror, nor gore – in fact, I was often declared the winner of my teenage short story competition – but The Bone Temple was truly something else.
Directed by Nia DaCosta and written by Alex Garland, The Bone Temple picks up right where 28 Years Later finished. The young Spike (Alfie Williams) has been abducted by a sinister gang of Jimmy Savile lookalikes, led by Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell). Sir Jimmy dubs his gang ‘the Fingers’ and leads them across the desolate countryside to dole out what he calls ‘charity’ (flaying people alive) in the name of Satan.
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The Jimmy’s roam the countryside in search of people to torture (Image: IMDb)
But before the story can even get off its feet, gratuitous, greasy violence takes centre stage.
Spike is forced into a death match against one of the Fingers – if he wins, he gets to live and join the gang – a fate not much better than death as it turns out.
As I watched, not only did I feel nauseous, but I noticed my vision blurring, and my hands tingling. Just as I am no stranger to on-screen violence, I am no stranger to the feeling right before fainting.
I had to un-recline my chair and breathe carefully for the next few minutes to remain conscious. The scene cuts, and we see the towering figure of Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry) – the Alpha infected from the previous film. Here, more violence unfolds as Samson uses a man’s head like a cereal bowl.
As I kept focusing on my breathing, the woman sitting beside me got up, grabbed her jacket and walked out of the cinema – never to return.
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I think violence can be a great narrative device. It can move a plot forward, show power struggles and characters’ motivations, and, when used effectively, be a great hook into a story.
However, in The Bone Temple, violence was used for the sake of it. Characters are skinned, bludgeoned, stabbed and tortured for little reason.
The plot was weak and secondary to the Tarantino-esque blood spurting. I didn’t feel the story progressed in any meaningful way, and the main villain’s motivations felt flat and unrealistic.
I will say that Ralph Fiennes gives an incredible performance as the iodine-soaked Dr Ian Kelson.
Ralph Fiennes gives this performance his all (Image: IMDb)
His moments of humour added a nice levity to what was otherwise a rather stale film. The relationship he slowly builds with Samson with the use of opioids and Duran Duran was interesting – but the idea that in 28 years, Dr Kelson is the first and only person to be able to make any kind of breakthrough with the rage virus with so little at his disposal is a little corny.
In performance, he is evenly matched by Jack O’Connell, who balances flamboyant malice with moments that feel genuinely pitiable.
Overall, the film has some good moments – and some standout performances – but these are dwarfed by the overall feeling that this franchise is slowly morphing into something else. Much like the infected that populate this world, the franchise is becoming violent for the sake of violence and spiralling out of control.