10 Exact Horror Movie Moments You Knew Characters Were Screwed

2. Don Abandons His Wife - 28 Weeks Later

28 Weeks Later
20th Century Fox

28 Weeks Later opens with an intense, nerve-shredding opening set-piece, where Don (Robert Carlyle), his wife Alice (Catherine McCormack), and a group of fellow survivors find their tranquil rural getaway attacked by a fleet of the infected.

During the chaotic scuffle, Don urges Alice to leave behind a vulnerable boy to save themselves, but she refuses. When the infected break into the room, however, Don abandons Alice and the boy, fleeing in order to save his own life, in turn leaving them for dead.

Now, Don's act was completely believable, even reasonable, under the circumstances: he had nowhere else to run, and his chances of survival were extremely low if he stayed to fight.

But this act also represents his "original sin," if you like, and damn-near ensured he'd end up dead before film's end, whether in an act of redemption or not.

Don has quite a rollercoaster ride to the grave, though.

For starters, Alice is actually discovered alive and found to be an asymptomatic carrier of the Rage Virus, but when Don is reunited with her and gives her a kiss, she transmits the Rage Virus to him, at which point he becomes infected, turns rabid, and slaughters her.

Don gets to rampage around for a good while but, in the end, he's finally put out of his murderous misery by his own daughter, Tammy (Imogen Poots).

Don's arc throughout the film is undeniably tragic, but leaving his wife in that opening scene guaranteed he was never getting out of this thing in one piece.

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.