The rage virus has been unleashed yet again on the world this week, thanks to 28 Years Later, and with it comes a surprising amount of heart in this post-apocalyptic nightmare. Between the terror and the Teletubbies is a story about a son, Spike (Alfie Williams), who is desperate to help his mother, Isla (Jodie Comer), and instead finds the hardest choice to be the best one. Now, Comer has spoken to Entertainment Weekly about her character’s journey and the decisions that were made to where it leads. Naturally, those who don’t wish to have the film spoiled just yet should look away now.

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So when it came to the quiet and beautiful exit of Comer’s character, the Emmy-winning star acknowledged how much respect she had for Isla’s decision. “I felt like there was real agency in that choice,” she explained, referring to Isla’s discovery that she had cancer, and that to continue would only hinder her son’s future. “You see the journey that she goes on in the movie, let alone what she’s probably experienced for the past several years — the kind of inner turmoil and pain.” Comer also acknowledged that even in this fantastical and equally ferocious world, Isla had a very human moment, she believes anyone could understand.

“It is a very real thing that people come to a point of not wanting to experience that any longer. And I think they’re both comforted and held by Kelson in this space.” The whole sequence is elevated not only by the Comer but also by Ralph Fiennes as the lonely Dr. Kelson, who has spent his days burning bodies and paying respect to both infected and uninfected alike.

“It’s probably hard for us to understand, but it was a complex moment,” Comer theorizes. “Even with her trying to protect him, she’s withheld a lot from him. And I think that’s also a very relatable thing. I’ve had that in my own life, when my parents withheld information from me to try and help me, but in the long run, I’ve wished that I had that information. So there’s a lot going on in that beat, but I think she was ready.”

Now, of course, Spike is on a new journey of his own after leaving the island, and the uninfected child that Isla helps bring into the world after stumbling across an infected mother giving birth on a train. “Any wall or segregation of infected, non-infected, us and them, is completely stripped away… It’s a moment where we see Isla actually being a mother and taking control of the situation. I can’t wait to see where that story leads.”

We’ll be able to see for ourselves when 28 Years Later’s sequel, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, rushes into theaters on January 16, 2026. Get the lowdown on everything we know about it here.