The Film That Reinvented Zombies is Now a Streaming Hit
For a long time, one of the best horror films of the 2000s was infamous for being hard to find. Physical media releases were out of print, and while other 2000s horror classics killed it on streaming, it went years without a digital release.
All that changed this year when a sequel landed, propelling an entire franchise back into the public eye. In 2025, you can rent this classic digitally, or you can just stream it for free, right now.
That’s right, 28 Days Later, the classic zombie film from director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland, is on Pluto TV. And it’s not just available, but dominating. After weeks, it’s still the most popular movie on the platform right now, and with good reason.
Released in 2002, 28 Days Later examines what happens when a rage virus starts to spread across England. Within weeks, society crumbles, but we don’t get to watch it fall. Instead, the film jumps ahead 28 days and shows us the story of Jim (Cillian Murphy).
A bike messenger who fell into a coma after an accident, Jim has no idea what’s happened. He just wakes up in a London hospital and finds the city wrecked and deserted. Desperate to reconnect with loved ones, he finds fellow survivors along the way and plunges headlong into a world of fresh horrors.
28 Days Later is memorable for a lot of reasons. It’s got a “fast zombie” approach made possible by the use of the “Rage Virus” plot device. There’s the all-digital camerawork, giving it a docudrama feel. Then there are the great performances from Murphy and co-stars like Brendan Gleeson and Naomie Harris. And of course, there are the infected themselves. This is one of those movies that revitalized zombies and paved the way for stuff like The Walking Dead, all while standing on its own as a singular achievement.
So, if you’ve been waiting to finally see this modern classic, now’s your chance. From there, you can check out 28 Weeks Later and 28 Years Later, which Dread Central’s Mary Beth McAndrews called “visually stunning” even if she found its narrative lacking. You can check out that full review right here. Plus, you can now rent or buy the film on digital.
Categorized: News
