Can Danny Boyle resurrect his once-thriving career?
There are some filmmakers whose careers consistently get better and better, seemingly learning how to squeeze the best out of their ideas with each new project and refining them into something great. Sadly, there are those who started out making impressive and acclaimed films only to lose their spark and destroy their reputations as once-revered filmmakers. This has been the case for Danny Boyle – but can he revive his career?
The director began his film career in the 1990s with the feature Shallow Grave. Witty and dark, the movie sees Ewan McGregor, Kerry Fox, and Christopher Eccleston play a group of university students whose lives descend into murder, betrayal and selfishness when they discover their new housemate has died and left a large chunk of money in his bedroom.
It put Boyle on the map, leading him to an even bigger project – Trainspotting. While it has its hilarious moments and strikingly unforgettable characters, it’s also a harrowing portrayal of the state of an economically depressed society, where many people find themselves turning to strong drugs to cope. Trainspotting has plenty of brutally honest sequences that highlight the dangers of addiction and how poverty can turn people into unrecognisable versions of themselves, making it a poignant and essential time capsule of an era.
Over the next few years, Boyle continued to find cinematic success with movies like A Life Less Ordinary and The Beach, and by this point, he had various prestigious nominations and wins to his name, including one Academy Award nomination and two Bafta wins. In 2002, he ventured into the horror genre with 28 Days Later, which featured a young Cillian Murphy as a man who wakes up from a coma only to realise that life is no longer the same – for anyone.
He realises that a virus has wreaked havoc on the country, leading him to navigate a world where everything is utterly different. The movie was highly successful, and it remains a classic British horror coveted by many. While it spawned a sequel, 28 Weeks Later, Boyle didn’t direct it, instead choosing to work on some other projects, like the sci-fi movie Sunshine and the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire. In fact, the latter film was a massive hit, earning Boyle a ‘Best Director’ win, too.
Boyle’s success didn’t slow down over the coming years, with movies like 127 Hours and Steve Jobs showing his ability to make popular Hollywood films as well. From here, Boyle could’ve continued on an upward trajectory as a filmmaker able to balance British and American productions with ease. Yet, following T2 Trainspotting, a somewhat disappointing and unnecessary sequel to his 1990s classic, he released Yesterday.
Taking the idea of a world without The Beatles and turning it into something truly awful, Yesterday stars Himesh Patel as a man who uses the Fab Four’s songs to become a star – because, somehow, he is the only one who remembers their music. Even worse, Ed Sheeran has a prominent role as himself, and Lily James serves to bring a romantic element to the plot that is totally one-dimensional. It’s full of clichés and plot holes, making you wonder how Boyle went from Trainspotting and 28 Days Later to his steaming hot pile of rubbish?
Thus, there is only one way Boyle can redeem himself from the mess of Yesterday. No, the answer isn’t a public apology for Yesterday; rather, the antidote to his sagging career is the release of another great film, and his next project, 28 Years Later, seems like it could be his ticket back to greatness. With actors like Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, Jack O’Connell and Ralph Fiennes appearing in the film, which is set for release in the summer of 2025, the cast alone has given many faith that this will be a worthy new instalment in the franchise.
Considering that Boyle earned significant acclaim with 28 Days Later, there’s a high chance that his new approach to the series will be worthwhile. Alex Garland has also returned to pen the screenplay, so with the creators of the first film on board, fans can only hope that the movie will see Boyle return to his roots with a gritty tale in stark contrast to the cheesiness of Yesterday.
