The Feminist Lens: Movie Reviews

I love zombie movies. However, most zombie movies (and the horror genre in particular) have massive shortcomings. Far too many films go for cheap violence and scares instead of utilizing true suspense, top-notch filmmaking, and successful storytelling. When a horror movie gets it right, the result can be worth examining from a deeper perspective. This week I wanted to write about one of my favorites, the 2002 film, 28 Days Later.

Zombie movies have long been used as an allegory to critique contemporary society. George A. Romero, the filmmaker known for bringing into pop-culture via his “Living Dead” series, used these movies as an extended metaphor. For example, the 1978 Dawn of the Dead follows a group of survivors who take refuge in a shopping mall. In the movie, the zombies are ultimately less threatening than the biker gang of mall looters who enter at the films climax. The work is as much a horror movie as it is a critique on the greed and excess of capitalism.

28 Days Later follows the classic format of creating a zombie movie which serves as a larger political message. For those who haven’t seen the film, I will caution that this post does contain spoilers. Sorry, but it is hard to write about the movie without discussing the plot in-depth.

28 Days Later follows lead character Jim (Cillian Murphy), who wakes up from a coma to discover that London has been hit by a viral outbreak which turns people into zombies. These zombies aren’t the traditional slow and meandering kind—they are fast, rabid, and extremely lethal. While Jim is caught off guard by these developments, he is aided by a young woman, Selena (Naomie Harris), who has learned to survive in the month since the infection. The duo soon finds a father and daughter, Frank and Hannah, who join the group. Together, they set out to follow directions which have been broadcast by a group of British soldiers who claim to have found the answer to infection. Though Frank dies along the way, the group reaches the group of soldiers—the true nemesis of the film.

What the fortified soldiers have found is that the infected zombies have to feed. Therefore, they must wait it out until the infected die. Both Selena and Hannah are taken captive to be used as entertainment for the soldiers. Jim is taken to be killed.

This leads to a final conflict in which zombies attack and Jim escapes and comes back to help Selena and Hannah. What is notable in this final scene is that Selena and Hannah don’t wait to be saved; they take matters of resistance into their own hands. Though Jim kills the leader of the soldiers, he is shot in the escape. There are numerous endings of the film due to some alternates available via DVD.

The most interesting aspect of 28 Days Later is the portrayal of the characters. Selena is perhaps the toughest of the group. While Jim comes to help, Selena is the one who saves his life both early on and post gunshot. Hannah, while young, is still capable of resistance and escape at the end of the film. She is shown capable of dealing with the zombie apocalypse, the death of her father, and impending sexual violence from the soldiers.

Just as notable is the male portrayal. Jim is not a particularly masculine or imposing male. While he is tough and capable, he does depend on the assistance of others, particularly Selena, to survive. Equally interesting is the group of soldiers. While they lure survivors with a helping and positive message, their motivations are sinister and visceral. The stimulus of the zombies is to feed and commit unfocused violence. The soldiers, who once represented safety and order, become motivated by sexual desire, lust, and brutality once laws are gone. Because they are aware of their actions, they are cast as the more deplorable villain in the film.

Ultimately, I feel 28 Days Later is an interesting movie to look at from a feminist perspective. Absent from the film are traditional roles associated with men and women in horror movies. The women of 28 Days Later are strong, capable, and smart. The main character, while male, relies on help from these characters as much—if not more, than he helps them. The portrayal of the breakdown of law and order is an interesting critique of society, and the military. It is no secret that the military (particularly in the US) has a history of sexual assault and a misogynist culture. Thus, 28 Days Later can be seen as a critique of both the traditional gender roles of horror movies, as well as a scathing look at the military.

In one of the alternate endings in 28 Days Later, Jim dies from the gunshot wound. Selena and Hannah pick up their guns and walk out into the world. Perhaps this moment is meant to be a new dawn for gender roles in horror movies. Regardless, 28 Days Later works to raise the bar not only for horror films, but movies in general.

What does the Shout Out! community think? Am I on to something with this analysis, or did you get something different out of 28 Days Later?