Why in the world would I watch a movie about a highly contagious and deadly virus in a year when a highly contagious and deadly virus is rampaging throughout the world? Because it is October and now is the time to bask in the surreal, the scary, and that which causes a degree of unease. Among the spooky fare consumed so far during the month, 28 Days Later supplies classic horror through zombies(-ish), despairing solitude, and uncertainty. For an 18-year-old film, Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s subject matter touches too close to reality in present times.

Waking up in a deserted London with no knowledge as to why it is empty would ruin anyone’s day. Seeing humans, or at least those in human form, tearing at one another with reckless abandon because bodily control is not their own, would tip the scales to questioning the purpose of existence. I would think the shock of finding the world in this state would be more than any person could mentally or physically withstand. 28 Days Later plays along that thread throughout its runtime. Jim (Cillian Murphy) stumbles through London’s empty and disheveled streets in a state of bewilderment, and within that haystack, he somehow discovers other survivors with whom he forges forth in the name of survival. Each character now exists in the world through a machination of their own creation, whether they built a wall of steeled indifference or focus only on embracing the fact they have someone else in the world. In reality, we do that today as the nation and world are enveloped by uncertainty; we find an anchor to prevent from being swept away by the detritus encircling us each waking moment. Thankfully, the real-world situation is not as dire as that in 28 Days Later, but watching it today certainly provides perspective through a different lens.

Movies should be an escape, and while it is hard to not think about the world’s troubles while watching a movie like 28 Days Later, it is not difficult to appreciate the film and anxiously hope for the best fate for the survivors. Zombies now run and appear to retain a degree of cognitive ability (albeit slight), and desperate people are still horrible toward one another, regressing to feral instincts and actions when their survival is threatened. The end times remain a terrifying prospect and the perfect setting for any horror film. Isolation, facing the world alone against all its challenges, remains one of the scariest, and unfortunately realistic, scenarios one could encounter.