Alex Garland Ripped Off One Of His Favorite Movies For 28 Years Later

Civil War director Alex Garland has opened up about the movie he took inspiration from writing a script for the upcoming movie 28 Years Later, the highly-anticipated threequel in the critically acclaimed franchise.

Garland is known for writing gritty storylines and got a lot of praise for his writing for 28 Days Later. Since then, the filmmaker has gone on write and direct several critically acclaimed films such as Annihilation and Ex-Machina. However, fans always wanted to see a third film in the aforementioned franchise. In January 2024, it was finally announced that a third movie in the series is being made with Danny Boyle donning the director’s hat once again. Now, in a recent interview, Garland has revealed the name of the movie he ripped off while writing a script for the upcoming film.

Speaking in aninterview with Screenrant, Garland opened up about some of his favorite movies that have helped him understand the process of filmmaking over the years. One of the movies chosen by the filmmaker was the 1969 movie Kes, a film that helped him stitch a story for 28 Years Later. While talking about the film, Garland noted that in the film scripts he delivered to Boyle, he ripped off Kes, a movie focused on a 15-year-old boy who had little hope in his life. Garland said, “I ripped off this film called Kes, a very unexpected thing to rip off in a zombie movie. The script I delivered and Kes, both focused on the experience of a young lad and because I am ripping it off, I wanna direct people to the source material. It’s a very wonderful film, very moving film, and I’ve stolen from it.”

Directed by Ken Loach, Kes chronicles the journey of Billy, a boy from a troubled family with struggles at school. However, he finds purpose and joy by raising and training a young kestrel bird. The film has been described as an authentic look at humanity. It would be interesting to see what elements Garland has taken from the classic movie and put them in the upcoming zombie film. In