We open with Spike (Alfie Williams) being forced to fight for his life in an empty swimming pool at the command of "Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal" (Jack O'Connell). Despite the young teen being clearly out of his depth, and traumatised, Spike scores a lucky (and gruesome) win over his opponent, earning himself a spot as one of Sir Jimmy's "Fingers". This means the lucky lad now gets to roam the land sporting a tracksuit and blonde wig and torture people to death in the name of Satan, who Sir Jimmy claims is his father. Not the journey of self-discovery Spike was looking for when he left his village at the end of the last film.
The other story thread involves another returning character, Dr Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), pre-virus doctor and creator of the titular Bone Temple, as he develops a surprisingly close friendship with Alpha (inhumanly large and strong) infected, Samson. These thematically inverse two strands play out separately for most of the film before coming together for a wild climax.
Boyle and (series writer) Alex Garland have said that, while the last film explored the idea of family, Bone Temple is an examination of evil and there is plenty on display here. There is certainly a tonne of gore, with decapitations, skinnings and arterial blood fountains, but it is the casual human cruelty that will most disturb. A land of chaos is a land where opportunistic monsters can thrive, and Sir Jimmy is thriving. He keeps his crew in line with a mixture of brutality, self-aggrandising myth making and by granting them a feeling of strength in a world where everyone else is powerless. The fact he is modelled after real life demon Jimmy Saville may be lost on non-UK viewers (the idea of a tracksuit-sporting Sir Jimmy committing the most heinous of atrocities in the name of "charity" is not new to us here) but even without that visual shortcut, O'Connell quickly convinces as the monstrous cult leader. He gives a massive performance and embodies the kind of charismatic psycho that not only survives, but thrives in the most hellish of places. His East of Scotland accent is also one of the best in years.
Seemingly aware of the dangers of having such an engrossing antagonist, the script makes sure we are never in any doubt about how horrific Jimmy and his gang of murderers are. One scene of torture in particular is uncomfortable beyond anything in the series to date and may be too much for some viewers to stomach. It's made all the worse by DaCosta's more stripped back directional style, eschewing many of the artistic flourishes Boyle used in the last film for a more in your face presentation.
All this horror is made palatable by a surprising amount of humour and the lens of humanity we watch everything through, embodied by Ralph Fiennes extraordinary turn as Dr Kelso. There are moments when he is hilarious, and his antics during an Iron Maiden needle drop will be talked about for a long time to come, but it's the kindness he views his world with that really sticks. Fiennes embodies the grace and strain it takes to uphold the Hippocratic Oath in a collapsed society as he goes about his lonely days treating everyone, whether alive, dead or infected, with complete dignity. When he is bonding with the behemoth Samson (an also impressive performance from Chi Lewis-Parry) you almost feel you are about to watch a Pixar-esque unlikely buddy movie, albeit with added exposed penis. Through a conversation with Kelso, the film even manages to find some sympathy for Jimmy who is after all, simply a product of the land he is forced to live in. The contrast between the two lead performances, their views on humanity, their attitudes towards the virus and their relationship with the past, forms the meat of the movie.
With the focus on these two titans, the star of the last film, Spike is sort of left behind. He is very much a passenger to the unfolding events and doesn't get to do much other than be in a constant state of terror. The idea is that he is witnessing the cruelty of the world at large and in that regard he is the audience surrogate, but it is a little distracting when the script has to continually contrive ways for him to survive.
This ties into Bone Temple's only real weakness, there isn't much in the way of actual plot. It's very much a "vibes" movie, with theme and atmosphere front and centre. There is a tonne of moment to moment tension but we are basically hanging out with two very different sets of people until the moment they happen to cross paths. In a way it is like its predecessor, a film of two halves, only this time they run concurrently. It's a very deliberate way of getting the movie's points across but some may find the plot lacking focus.
So the pacing may not please everyone and the nastier scenes might alienate others, but this is a fantastically made and acted slice of thoughtful horror. It continues its predecessor's examination of a post-apocalypse Britain while adding its own flavour and absolutely earns its place alongside 28 Years Later. With Boyle returning for another instalment, this is shaping up to be a trilogy for the ages.
8 morpheme induced highs out of 10.
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