28 Years Later ending explained after haunting Jimmy Savile reference and Jack O'Connell introduction
Almost two decades on, the highly-anticipated 28 Years Later movie has finally landed - and the ending has divided opinion.
So far, the star-studded horror has racked up a 7.3/10 on IMDb and an impressive 92 percent over on Rotten Tomatoes.
Set 28 years after the original Rage Virus outbreak, the movie follows young Spike (Alfie Williams) who leaves his home on the island of Lindisfarne to embark on a dangerous mission.
Following on from the events of 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later, Great Britain had been placed under quarantine and cut off from the rest of Europe.
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The population has now regressed into scattered medieval villages surrounded by the infected.
Directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland, the zombie action gives a haunting look into how society rebuilds - and rewrites - its past.
The Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus reads: "28 Years Later taps into contemporary anxieties with the ferocious urgency of someone infected with Rage Virus, delivering a haunting and visceral thrill ride that defies expectations."
Meanwhile one fan reckoned Boyle and Garland 'take the franchise to the next level with this wild, unexpected new turn,' adding: "Absolutely loved it."
However the movie has also sparked attention for its unusual ending.
Now, the rest of this article contains major spoilers for 28 Years Later. Consider yourself warned.
That unusual ending seems to reference Jimmy Savile - and if you're British, you'll be filled with dread at just the thought.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, then let me explain.
28 Years Later and Jimmy Savile explained
The movie introduces us to Jack O'Connell's character Sir Jimmy Crystal.
We meet him when Spike realizes he's surrounded by more of the infected than he can handle alone, and becomes trapped.
Just as the horde closes in, a figure appears above him: it’s Jimmy, sporting a tracksuit and blonde mop.
More men dressed the same way join him and wielding makeshift weapons, manage to beat back the infected in a fast, brutal fight.
Once the zombies are down, Jimmy and his followers offer Spike a safe place on their road.
Spike, starving and out of options, agrees to go with them.
Who was Jimmy Savile?
Savile was a larger-than-life TV presenter who made his breakthrough in the 1960s, charming audiences and rising to become Britain's favorite show host for almost 40 years.
Best known for Jim’ll Fix It, 'Uncle Jim' delighted children by making their dreams come true - no matter how whacky they might have been.
He also gave generously to children’s hospitals, took part in marathon fundraising events and spent countless hours volunteering on children's wards.
In recognition, he was appointed OBE in 1972 and ultimately knighted in 1990 by Queen Elizabeth II for his charity work.
But after his death, it emerged he had been covering up a despicable secret.
Savile passed away in October 2011, and within weeks multiple people accused him of sexually exploiting minors and vulnerable individuals over many years.
A sweeping police investigation, Operation Yewtree, then exposed hundreds of further victims, some as young as eight, abused in BBC studios and the hospitals where he volunteered.
The sheer span of his crimes - and the institutional failures that allowed them - shocked and appalled the nation.
The original outbreak in 28 Days Later took place in 2002, long before Savile had been outed as a pedophile.
Boyle told Business Insider of Savile's disgraced legacy: "He's as much to do with pop culture as he is to do with sportswear, to do with cricket, to do with the honors system.
"It's all kind of twisting in this partial remembrance, clinging onto things and then recreating them as an image for followers."
"He's a kaleidoscope, isn't he?" Garland added, referring to O'Connell's character. "A sort of trippy, f**ked up kaleidoscope."
What role will Jack O'Connell have in the next film?
The saga continues with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, slated for release on January 16, 2026.
O’Connell is set to reprise his role as cult leader Sir Jimmy Crystal, now leading the twisted survivor community.
Boyle and Garland teased that the sequel will delve deeper into how Crystal’s cult and its unsettling savior mythology reflects the fractured memories and distorted histories of post-Rage Britain.
"The thing about looking back is how selective memory is," Garland said. "It cherry picks and it has amnesia, and crucially, it also misremembers.
"We are living in a time right now which is absolutely dominated by a misremembered past."
How have fans reacted to the Jimmy Savile reference?
Taking to Twitter, Brits were left perplexed by the Savile reference.
"Jimmy Savile turning up at the end completely finished me off," one person typed, as a second admitted: "Did not expect Jimmy Savile to show up in 28 Years Later, but if you need any final boss for the zombie apocalypse, why not?"
28 Years Later is playing now in theaters.
Topics: Film and TV, Celebrity
Ellie Kemp