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Timeline

Colin (2008) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Release, runtime and language
2008 · 97 mins · English
Directed by
Marc Price
Starring
Rami Hilmi, Daisy Aitkens, Alastair Kirton, Tat Whalley, Kate Alderman, Leanne Pammen

Our hero Colin is bitten by a zombie; he dies and returns from the dead. We follow him as he wanders through suburbia during the throes of a cadaverous apocalypse.

On this page (6)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 Events in order (12)
  3. 3 Timeline questions answered
  4. 4 Movie threads
  5. 5 Movies like Colin
  6. 6 Every angle

Where to watch

Where to Watch Colin (2008)

Where can you watch Colin? Stream, rent or buy it in the US, including on Fawesome, YOW.tv and Cineverse: current JustWatch availability with up-to-date prices.

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12 events in order · contains spoilers

Colin Timeline: Events in Chronological Order

Every key event of Colin (2008) in order, scene by scene, with when and where it takes place. Use it to untangle flashbacks, time jumps and parallel storylines, to refresh your memory before the sequel or to find the exact scene you are thinking of.

  1. Colin is wounded and attacked by Damien the zombie

    Colin arrives home with an arm wound and cleans it in the kitchen sink. Damien, now a zombie, attacks him violently. He defends himself by stabbing Damien in the head with a kitchen knife, killing him, but dies soon afterward from his injuries.

    When
    immediately after the attack
    Where
    Colin's house - kitchen
  2. Colin becomes a zombie and wanders through London as the outbreak begins

    Colin's body rises again as a zombie and he drifts through the streets of London. He develops a cannibal hunger for people but largely avoids direct confrontations with others. He moves through the early chaos of the zombie outbreak.

    When
    night, during the early outbreak
    Where
    London streets
  3. A house party is overrun by zombies

    Zombies storm a house party and slaughter everyone inside. The chaos pushes survivors to scatter and scramble for safety. Colin, now among the undead, continues to roam as danger closes in.

    When
    evening
    Where
    party house
  4. Colin follows the sole survivor into danger; Linda rescues him

    The sole survivor escapes and Colin, still a zombie, follows her through the house. She is later trapped by a madman in his basement, surrounded by blinded zombies. Colin is mugged for his trainers during the chaos, but Linda appears and saves him.

    When
    same night
    Where
    house/basement
  5. Linda and her boyfriend take Colin to their mother's house

    Linda and her boyfriend carry Colin to their mother's house, hoping for safety. Colin cannot recognize them and begins to fight and snarl, showing he is not in control of himself. The group moves deeper into danger as night continues.

    When
    late night
    Where
    mother's house
  6. Linda is bitten by Colin and dies

    During their uneasy attempt to help him, Linda is bitten by Colin and dies. Her death weighs heavily on the others and marks a turning point in the sequence of events.

    When
    shortly after arrival
    Where
    mother's house
  7. Linda reanimates and is locked in the kitchen with Colin

    Linda returns to a zombie state and is locked in the kitchen with Colin, trapped by the surrounding grief and danger. The tense scene heightens the tragedy of their situation.

    When
    shortly after
    Where
    mother's house kitchen
  8. Grief-stricken, Linda's boyfriend beats Colin

    Grieving, Linda's boyfriend brutalizes Colin, who is already dead on impact. The violence ends with Colin shambled and broken as Linda's body remains nearby.

    When
    shortly after
    Where
    mother's house
  9. Survivors launch an offensive against the zombies

    A separate group of survivors mounts an assault on the zombies with improvised weapons and a makeshift bomb. The blast injures many and destroys Colin, including his hearing and much of his face. Three bitten survivors are killed by the group to prevent turning.

    When
    during the offensive
    Where
    streets near the attack site
  10. Colin reaches Laura's home in a key flashback

    Colin arrives at his friend Laura's home, triggering a flashback to his life as a human. In the flashback, Laura traps a zombie in the bathroom and is bitten during the attempt to kill it. She dies in Colin's arms and then reanimates, biting him.

    When
    flashback
    Where
    Laura's house
  11. Colin kills Laura in the flashback and returns home

    Colin's actions in the flashback culminate in him killing Laura after she bites him. He then goes home, which brings the viewer back to the film's opening.

    When
    end of flashback
    Where
    Laura's house
  12. Return to the film's opening moment

    The flashback ends and the narrative returns to the film's opening sequence, with Colin injured in the arm and entering the empty house. The cycle loops to the start, setting the stage for the continuing story.

    When
    present (opening)
    Where
    Colin's house

Last updated: October 09, 2025 at 11:08

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Timeline questions answered

Colin Timeline Explained: Your Questions Answered

When does it happen, and why in that order? The questions people ask about the chronology of Colin (2008): time jumps, flashbacks, cause and effect between scenes and the correct order of events, each answered with spoilers.

Q1

How does Colin get infected with the zombie virus?

Colin is infected by his friend Laura during a flashback. Laura traps a zombie in her bathroom and is bitten while trying to kill it. She dies in Colin's arms, then reanimates and bites him. Colin kills Laura in response and returns home, where the film begins.

  • zombie infection
  • Laura
  • bite
  • origin
Q2

Why does Linda rescue Colin if he's already a zombie?

Linda doesn't realize Colin has become a zombie when she rescues him from muggers. She only recognizes him after saving him, and presumably hopes to help him recover or at least get him to safety. The film doesn't explicitly state her reasoning, but family loyalty drives her actions.

  • Linda
  • sister
  • rescue
  • family
Q3

What happens to Linda at the mother's house?

Linda is bitten by Colin while trying to help him at their mother's house. She dies from the bite, then reanimates as a zombie and is locked in the kitchen with Colin. Her boyfriend later attacks Colin in a grief-fueled rage.

  • Linda
  • death
  • bite
  • reanimation
  • kitchen
Q4

Why does the film loop back to the beginning?

The film uses a circular narrative structure. After showing the flashback of how Colin was infected, it returns to the opening scene where Colin arrives home injured. This creates a tragic loop where the viewer understands Colin's fate is sealed from the start, the film began with the end of his human story.

  • ending
  • flashback
  • loop
  • circular narrative
Q5

How does Colin survive the bomb explosion?

Colin doesn't truly survive intact, he's severely injured by the homemade bomb. The explosion destroys most of his hearing and facial features, leaving him disfigured and deaf. He continues wandering aimlessly despite these devastating injuries.

Foreshadowing: The survivors' attack with a makeshift bomb was foreshadowed by their organized offensive against the zombie group.

  • bomb
  • explosion
  • injury
  • hearing
  • face damage
Q6

Who is the madman in the basement with the blinded zombies?

The basement scene features a serial killer who has trapped several blinded zombies in his basement. The sole party survivor becomes trapped with them. The madman appears to be using the zombies in some way, though the film doesn't explain his motivations in detail.

  • madman
  • basement
  • serial killer
  • blinded zombies
Q7

Why does Linda's boyfriend attack Colin after her death?

Driven by grief and rage, Linda's boyfriend beats Colin in a fit of anger after Linda dies and reanimates as a zombie. Even though Colin is already dead, the boyfriend takes out his frustration on the corpse, though Colin simply shambles away from the assault.

  • boyfriend
  • anger
  • grief
  • beating
Q8

What happens to the survivors who get bitten during the attack?

Three survivors are bitten during the humans' offensive against the zombies. Rather than let them turn, their own group kills them brutally to prevent the infection from spreading. This demonstrates the harsh calculus of survival in the apocalypse.

  • bitten survivors
  • killed
  • turned
  • group execution
Q9

Why does Colin follow the sole party survivor?

As a zombie, Colin has an instinctive hunger for human flesh and is drawn to the living survivor. However, the film doesn't clarify if he follows her specifically or simply moves toward any human presence. He seems driven by the basic zombie impulse to feed.

  • party survivor
  • following
  • zombie instinct
Q10

Why does Colin avoid conflict with other zombies?

Colin largely avoids direct confrontation despite being a zombie. The film presents him as a passive, aimless figure who drifts through the chaos without actively seeking conflict. This could be interpreted as remnants of his human personality or simply the film's choice to follow a non-aggressive zombie protagonist.

  • avoiding conflict
  • zombie behavior
  • passive

Movie threads

More Movies Like Colin, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes Colin tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Bleak Apocalypse Movies from the Monster's Perspective like Colin

Stories where the apocalypse is seen through the eyes of the creatures or infected. If you liked seeing the zombie apocalypse through Colin's eyes, explore more movies like it. These films share a similar bleak tone, telling stories from the perspective of the monster or infected, focusing on loss of humanity and the grim reality of being on the other side of the outbreak.

  • bleak
  • tragic
  • gruesome
  • somber
  • desolate
  • apathetic
  • Tone: bleak, tragic
  • Pacing: steady, observational
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative follows a character's transformation into or existence as a monstrous being, often against their will. The journey is one of diminishing agency and fading humanity, observing familiar apocalyptic horrors from an alienated, internal, and tragic viewpoint. Flashbacks may highlight the cruel irony of their former life.

Why they belong together: These films are grouped by their unique narrative perspective, which creates a distinctively bleak and empathetic horror experience. They share a heavy emotional weight, a focus on the tragedy of transformation, and a tone that offers little to no hope, making the apocalypse feel utterly inescapable.

Movies About Grief and Loss in an Apocalypse like Colin

Character-driven stories where global disaster is secondary to intimate tragedy. Fans of Colin's heartbreaking story of loss will find similar movies here. These films explore grief, sibling relationships, and personal tragedy within a larger apocalyptic framework, featuring heavy emotional weight, bleak tones, and a focus on character over action.

  • somber
  • brutal
  • heavy
  • desolate
  • grief-stricken
  • heartbreaking
  • Tone: somber, bleak
  • Pacing: steady, contemplative
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The plot uses the apocalypse as an amplifier for a core emotional conflict, typically the loss of a loved one. The protagonist's journey is internal, wrestling with memory and guilt, often revealed through flashbacks. The external survival plot is intertwined with, and often secondary to, this unresolved personal anguish.

Why they belong together: These movies are connected by their prioritization of emotional depth over pure action. They share a heavy emotional weight, a somber and bleak tone, and a narrative structure that makes personal grief the true heart of the story, resulting in a powerfully sad and reflective viewing experience.

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Movies Like Colin

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Every angle

Colin (2008) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

Everything about Colin in one place: what happens in the plot summary, the timeline in chronological order, the characters and meaning and a spoiler-free summary. What's After the Movie adds the cast, box office and post-credit scenes.

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