Jack O'Connell on why his 28 Years Later character dresses as Jimmy Savile as sequel releases today

Jack O’Connell has spoken out about why his 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple character dresses the way he does.

O’Connell plays ‘Sir Jimmy Crystal’, the leader of a Jimmy Savile-inspired gang called ‘The Jimmies’ in the sequel to 28 Years Later.

The film comes just a few months after 28 Years Later continued the story of 28 Days Later with a completely new cast, starring Alfie Williams, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Ralph Fiennes, and Jodie Comer.

The film ends with Alfie’s character Spike running away from home, becoming surrounded by the infected and looking certain to die. This is when the Jimmies jump in, all dressed as Savile and saving the day.

O’Connell’s Sir Jimmy Crystal leads them and is a major part of the sequel, The Bone Temple, but many have questioned what the meaning behind them all dressing like the convicted paedophile.

Speaking to Polygon, O’Connell said: “The clues were in the writing and so understanding what Alex [Garland] was trying to say there was important to me.”

O’Connell believed that this was a ‘comment on unchecked power’, adding: “The zeitgeist just paused in 2001 when this infection ravaged society.

“So it's clinging onto that, and Jimmy doesn't know what we know… I thought it was an interesting take, and a clever one.”

Alex Garland has separately spoken about the character in interviews for 28 Years Later, saying that 28 Years Later, The Bone Temple, and a possible third film in the trilogy that is written but yet to be greenlit, are about ‘looking back and looking forwards’.

Fiennes and O'Connell both return for the sequel in bigger roles (Sony)

He added when asked about O’Connell’s character in an interview with Business Insider: “The thing about looking back is how selective memory is and that it cherry picks, it has amnesia, and it also misremembers.

“We are living in a time right now that is absolutely dominated by a misremembered past.”

Garland went on to call him a ‘trippy f*cked up kaleidoscope’ of the past.

The bizarre Jimmy Savile-inspired characters are seemingly not acting as a barrier to enjoyment of the film, with reviews for the sequel so far being the best of the entire franchise. The Bone Temple sits at a whopping 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, higher than Days or Years.

'The Jimmies' are a major part of the sequel (Sony)

Ian Sandwell of Digital Spy gave the film a four-star review, saying: “It's an excellent sequel that lives up to the first movie, with its own coda that will leave fans wanting the already-confirmed third movie as soon as possible.”

Robert Daniels of RogerEbert.com gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, calling it ‘a gnarly, mind-bending trek through inhumanity.’

Bill Bria gave the film a perfect five-star review for DiscussingFilm, pointing to the franchise as ‘a monumental achievement in horror’.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is available to watch in cinemas now.