New 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple fan theory adds dark context to Sir Jimmy Crystal's murderous cult

Horror fans are convinced they've worked out why Jack O'Connell's villain Sir Jimmy Crystal has set rules when it comes to the size of his murderous cult in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple – and their theory is as heartbreaking as it is dark.

If you cast your minds back to the previous film, you'll remember its bleak prologue in which zombies descend upon a family home and a nearby church in Scotland, killing a bunch of kids and the local vicar. One child gets away... which we realised back then was Jimmy, and now a viewer has proposed that he sees his loyal "Fingers" as his late siblings.

"The Fingers are called The Fingers but have more than 5 members but cannot have more than 7, this is because Jimmy is (I assume subconsciously) replacing the same amount of sisters he lost," @pipeshotgun wrote on X, alongside an image of the Jimmys in the latest flick and a still of the frightened youngsters at the start of 28 Years Later.

"Plus, 7 isn't even associated with the devil in the Bible. 7 is often viewed as a holy number. It's very clearly him linking it to his family," replied another, as a third claimed: "Hear me out, it's for the 7 deadly sins."

Others claimed it was the cult members' blonde hairpieces that confirmed the connection, with one tweeting: "Explains the wigs!"

"I thought it was only 7 because that was how many wigs he had," another joked.

In 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, it's established that whenever Jimmy wants to invite someone new into the cult, they must challenge an existing member before the two fight to the death, and whoever emerges victorious either keeps their spot in the gang or adopts the place of the deceased.

While the above is just a theory, the movie makes clear that the things Jimmy witnessed as a child, most notably his religious father embracing the infected as a cleanser of the world, directly influences how he acts in the apocalypse today. In a surprisingly touching scene with Ralph Fiennes' Dr. Kelson, Jimmy explains that his father, who he believes to be Satan, gives him directives in his head.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is in cinemas now, while 28 Years Later 3 is currently in the works. For more, check out our guide to all the upcoming horror movies heading our way, or look to our picks of the most exciting upcoming movies of the year.