Long-Awaited Zombie Sequel 28 Years Later Was Filmed in an Unbelievable Way

28 Years Later, the aptly titled long-awaited sequel to 28 Days Later, is taking a page from its predecessor by shooting in a very unusual format. In 2002, Danny Boyle’s iconic zombie film starring Cillian Murphy was released in theaters after being shot on a digital camcorder, a move that was unprecedented at the time. The decision produced a surreal visual look that helped sell the reality of a zombie apocalypse, camera resolution be damned (480p to be exact). The highly-anticipated sequel will take another major swing for the fences by filming all of 28 Years Later on an iPhone.

WIRED reports that the upcoming zombie sequel was shot using an iPhone 15 Pro Max, the most expensive and powerful model of that generation. 28 Years Later, which stars Cillian Murphy, Jodie Colmer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Ralph Fiennes, finished principal production in August using the portable device. Of course, a good amount of attachments and adapters were used with the iPhone to better facilitate the filmmaking process, but the film will indeed sport the phone’s digital camera appearance. Danny Boyle’s longtime cinematographer, Anthony Dod Mantle, returned after collaborating on 28 Days Later (and a host of other projects), which used a digital camcorder new at the time and not the Hollywood standard. While other films in recent memory were also shot on an iPhone, 28 Years Later will likely push the limits of the device like no other.

28 Years Later Is Not The Only Movie Filmed on an iPhone

28 Years Later using an iPhone 15 as its primary camera is certainly surprising (and impressive), but not necessarily a new concept. Most recently, Steven Soderbergh experimented using the iPhone on both the horror movie Unsane, starring Claire Foy, and the sports drama High Flying Bird, starring André Holland. Unsane, in particular, feels like the most bare-bones iPhone approach put on the screen yet (way fewer fancy gadgets were used). Meanwhile, Sean Baker, currently receiving Oscar buzz for Anora, used three iPhone 5S to shoot Tangerine, an acclaimed low-budget feature widely regarded as one of, if not the best, feature films shot on an iPhone. Tangerine was especially impressive because of how beautiful it looked, utilizing cinematography techniques that still have not been one-upped by other iPhone movies.

For 28 Years Later, and its predecessor, using a dated digital camera look adds to the gritty and surreal nature of the films. It’s almost as if the audience is viewing an old recording they found in a bin somewhere, coming across a horrifying nightmare that looks like it happened for real. The funny part is a “recording” could now come from a camera on a cellphone that shoots in 4K, making 28 Years Later probably look much, much clearer than the 2002 film. Still, it’s hard not to appreciate the creative swing, especially when almost every major film nowadays defers to the same kind of digital filmmaking methods.