Alex Garland says The Last of Us is better than his 2002 dystopian zombie horror 28 Days Later.
“Let me say this: The Last of Us is better than 28 Days [Later],” Garland told creator Neil Druckmann during an episode of Sony’s Creator to Creator series. “The Last of Us is better than 28 Days, or at least the writing is. I’m not going to talk about directing, that would be a silly thing. So not that. I know what 28 Days is, I know what I did. I know what that process was. The thing about The Last of Us, I was like, ‘Oh, this is so much more sophisticated and moving. It was moving. I’m not dissing 28 Days, I’m very proud of it. It’s a nice part of my life. But seriously, The Last of US is on another level – so yeah, of course I was influenced by it.”
This is high praise given that 28 Days Later is widely credited with changing the zombie genre forever, inspiring the likes of The Walking Dead (I mean, the pilot episode opens is nearly identical to the opening of 28 Days Later) and, of course, The Last of Us. Druckmann revealed in a 2020 interview with Empire that the film inspired them to focus more on the characters when creating TLOU, rather than spend copious amounts of time on the origin of the virus.
28 Days Later was penned by Garland and directed by Danny Boyle, with the duo reteaming for the upcoming sequel 28 Years Later. In the Sony interview, when Garland says he was “influenced” by TLOU, he’s referring to the writing of 28 Years Later – which is a very cool full-circle genre moment. Both The Last of Us season 2 and 28 Years Later are out this year, with each telling their own harrowing, dystopian tales.
The Last of Us season 2 hits Max on April 13. 28 Days Later hits theaters on June 20. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2025 and beyond.
