The Cell poster & wallpaper

Jennifer Lopez, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Musetta Vander

A psychotherapist journeys inside a comatose serial killer in the hopes of saving his latest victim.

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55% liked it

160,220 ratings

Critics

45% liked it

139 critics

R, 107 min.

Directed by: Tarsem Singh

Release Date: August 18, 2000

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DVD Release Date: December 19, 2000

Stats: 6,312 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (6,312)

  • SirPant
    September 24, 2009
    SirPant
    It was a little bit like a music video and a car advert rolled into one. It has good bits and is visually stunning but lacks real interest in character and story. A brave film though which should be congratulated but not necessarily repeated!
  • 76Majikat
    June 26, 2009
    76Majikat
    Starting on a good note, this film was better than a lot of the reviews suggested and Vince Vaughn, was surprisingly ok at a straight part.

    The actual Serial Killer was by far, one of the least interesting killers in this genre. The whole film was very theatrical in it?s i...( read more)nterpretation which made some of the ?unconscious? scenes of the film visually mesmerising?yes there is a but?the theatrical interpretation was milked for all it?s worth and went on far too long, without any great explanation of the mind twisting scenario. I?m sure many people will have been put off by this element of the film.
  • ceWEBrity
    June 8, 2009
    ceWEBrity
    Woefully underrated. The Cell's negative critical reaction, most likely, is an immature reflex to the once-ubiquitous presence of Jennifer Lopez. Though I don't exactly like her either, the film is more than her, and she's underrated here anyway - the oversexed, babyish naivete i...( read more)s easily viewed as a character trait, more than Jennifer Lopez not knowing how to act. The director is far too in control of his film to let Lopez make these choices unchecked. Once you start to realize that Catherine has issues too, such as when we get a look into her impossibly rosy mind, the performance starts to become more palatable. Vince Vaughn and Vincent D'Onofrio are tolerable, but really, the acting is not the centerpiece here.

    A phrase you will most likely hear a great deal, and possibly even use yourself a few times, in discussing film is "style over substance." It has its applications, but what many people fail to realize is film is all about style. It is an aesthetic before a narrative. Without a style, a film is almost always nothing, and in that regard a really fantastic style is its own substance. The Cell is an exemplary case in point. Tarsem Singh props up an entirely generic serial killer procedural with some of the most remarkable visuals ever put to film, turning formula into fantasy with seeming ease. It is lush and unforgettable, brutal, intelligent. And it's not filmed with vanity or excess; the grandeur fits perfectly with the themes of the story, most notably the unlimited depths of human insanity.

    The film is no real success as a thriller, which is surely what Hollywood coerced Singh into making. To have Lopez helm the affair was obviously a necessary evil, because without her this project probably would never have gotten 30 million dollars thrown at it. What The Cell best offers is the portraiture of delusion, what our psyches can create without any limitation or boundary. It is a fascinating look at surreal manifestations of very real traumas. Above all, it is captivating, mesmerizing and burningly memorable. I can only hope that time will be kinder to this film than it's reaped so far.
  • her69eyes
    October 20, 2008
    her69eyes
    In 2008, we're completely used to the concept of torture-porn thanks to the rise in popularity of films like "Hostel" and "Saw". For it's time, however, "The Cell" was supremely cutting edge, grotesque, and disturbing compared to many other horror films that had been released in ...( read more)the late 90's/early 2000's. One thing is certain, however - when you take away the pretty cinematography and trippy dream sequences, this is not completely unlike the kinds of films I just mentioned. Some people have tried to defend it's artistic merit, to which my rebuttal is about 15 minutes of stock footage of various women drowning. Although "The Cell" tries to use these images to conjure up dread and establish a race against time, what we're left with is completely macabre and simply not fun to watch. And no, not in a good way.

    In "The Cell", were introduced to a device that allows one person to enter the subconscious of another. This technique is highly valuable in understanding the subconscious of disturbed individuals who are unable to communicate for themselves. The scientists, Miriam Kent (Marianna Jean-Baptiste) and Henry West (Dylan Baker) frequently recruit Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez) to venture into the mind of a young boy who has been tormented by a nightmarish image of himself in his dreams. The efforts seem to be going nowhere as the boy still conjures up these images of his terrifying transformation in every session.

    Meanwhile, serial killer Carl Stargher (Vincent D'Onofrio) has been captured by FBI agents Peter Novak (Vince Vaughn) and Gordon Ramsey (Jake Weber). Stargher kills his victims methodically - he makes them drown in a process that takes roughly 40 hours (the tank fills up little by little), then he suspends himself by hooks and apparently has sex with them, followed by his calling card which is soaking their bodies in bleach to preserve them as dolls. Stargher, now in what is essentially a coma after a schizophrenic fit, had captured his eighth victim prior to becoming unconscious. Now, the FBI agents need to recruit Catherine to go into Stargher's mind and discover where the victim is.

    Prior to seeing "The Cell", I knew exactly what i've gotten myself into. Over the years, i've seen clips here and there such as the infamous horse scene. And i'll certainly admit that the surrealist imagery is highly effective, as are the brilliant costumes Stagher dons as "the king of a very twisted kingdom". One of the first dream sequences, introducing a bunch of Stargher's living dolls, was exactly what I was hoping for. It's disturbing, creepy, and unsettling. However, as the film progresses, director Tarsem relies a little bit more on shock value rather than what i'd consider an interesting and unique form of grotesque. No matter how creatively you torture somebody, it's still mindless and repulsive.

    I'm certainly not saying this is a bad film just because it relies on shock value and cutting-edge gore. The main problem is that the gore is not accompanied by memorable characters or a good script. Not only does the script state the obvious at every moment (such as the aforementioned "king of a very twisted kingdom" line), it relies on too many cliches such as Stargher's daddy issues that led him to what he is. The editing is especially well done and Tarsem, although at times directing in a masturbatory fashion, takes us through the story with enough pizazz and style to keep things interesting. I'm just not sure how we're supposed to care about such a lifeless story.

    Vince Vaughn, who I usually really love, was completely miscast and never looked comfortable in his role as an FBI agent. This was certainly the worst performance i've ever seen him turn in. D'onofrio is adequately creepy (although his performance is hidden under long hair and layers of make up), but I didn't like how the story called for him to be the typical weirdo that we see rehashed in every serial killer movie. Overall, I was fairly entertained and I liked a lot of the imagery... but it's a story that has absolutely no heart. Even when there are lives at stake, it's hard to care. This is as formulaic as they come, and it's simply disguised by some vibrant colors and surrealism.
  • EarthlyAlien
    September 4, 2008
    EarthlyAlien
    "Do you believe there's a part of yourself, deep inside in your mind, with things you don't want other people to see? During a session, when I'm inside, I get to see those things."

    ...( read more)86a34f21900fa967761160002-.jpg" target="_blank">Photobucket

    From the first frame to the last, The Cell is a visually striking film, as gorgeous as it is grotesque, at times virtually unwatchable, yet impossible not to watch. From visionary director Tarsem Singh's often mind-blowing camera angles and Paul Laufer's dazzling cinematography, to Tom Foden's imaginative production design, to Guy Dyas and Michael Manson's art direction and April Napier and Eiko Ishioka's costumes, to Robert Duffy and Paul Rubell's quick-cut, snapshot-like editing, this is one of those few films in which the crew deserves more applause than the actors.

    Hollywood has always been fascinated by serial killers, and the box office popularity of such films has encouraged a steady stream of them. From the splatter era of the Friday the 13th and Halloween series to the taut tension of The Silence of the Lambs, mass murder often means mass dollars over there. But The Cell kind of breaks new ground. Although the story recounts the pursuit and capture of a serial killer, the meat of the film contends with exploring and understanding his mind and motivations. In many ways, The Cell is more of a dark fantasy than a thriller, and the way it toys with the line between dreams and waking recalls the recent wave of virtual reality films (which has included, amongst other entries, The Matrix).

    At the heart of the film lies a new kind of technology that allows one person to enter the subconscious of another. The intent of the procedure is to facilitate the psychological analysis of deeply disturbed individuals who are unable to participate in traditional sessions due to catatonia. A team of two scientists, Miriam Kent (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) and Henry West (Dylan Baker), and one psychotherapist, Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez), are the only ones skilled in using the equipment - they have been experimenting on a young boy for the past 18 months. But, when approached by a pair of FBI agents, Peter Novak (Vince Vaughn) and Gordon Ramsey (Jake Weber), with a proposal, they find the challenge impossible to resist.

    Novak and Ramsey have just captured serial killer Carl Stargher (Vincent D'Onofrio), who has murdered seven times and has recently kidnapped an eighth victim. When the FBI locates Stargher, he has suffered some sort of massive psychological collapse and is in a coma (or, as one doctor puts it, he's having a dream from which he will never awaken). The location of his newest captive is unknown, but the FBI is aware that she has been placed in a glass tank that will automatically fill with water in 40 hours and drown her - unless Catherine can enter Stargher's mind, make contact with him, earn his trust, and learn the location of victim #8.

    Entering this dream world, Singh hits his stride - although, truth be told, he's pretty good with the blood, guts and torture stuff too. The realm of the twisted mind, where the distinction between logic and illogic is uncertain, is where The Cell truly excels. That's Singh's playground, and the notoriously perfectionist director has a field day playing with our notions of what's up and what's down. Lavishing the screen with baroquely imagined sets and elaborate, fetishistic costumes reminiscent of Matthew Barney's Cremaster film series, Singh paints a nightmarish vision of a tour through unconscious hell.

    There's a reason why Jennifer Lopez looks so comfortable in the wilder, more surreal segments of the film. Tarsem used to make music videos. Called upon to strike poses in phantasmagorical settings while wearing outrageous outfits, she seems right at home. Vincent D'Onofrio is both menacing and poignant as the ill Carl Stargher, and like Lopez, gets to take on many different role and costume changes, depending on what his mind does with him. The film calls for him to be psychotic and frightening at certain points, and lonely and scared at others, and D'Onofrio pulls it off. Vince Vaughn is professional, if unextraordinary, as Peter Novak, and does exactly what is required of the role, and not much more.

    Video directors who graduate to Film often have problems with basic storytelling. Their films look good, with every shot suitable for framing, but fundamentals such as narrative progression, character building and suspense can seem beyond their grasp. While Tarsem manages to avoid this pitfall, and The Cell has a relatively strong narrative thread, truth is the film film is far from perfect and it can seem exaggerated and disorienting at times. Still, it remains a genuinely rewarding and surprisingly touching experience, a one-of-a-kind film that is not only a feast for the eyes and ears (the music score, by Howard Shore, is erratically memorable), but also works up and lays bare emotions that are rarely felt in films nowadays.

    That The Cell is visually and aesthetically astounding work, as well as decent and satisfying on a story basis is cause for celebration, and Tarsem deserves all the praise one could possibly get for making a debut feature this good. As I said, it's not perfect and it should not be overlooked that the mind-entering thing doesn't always completely make sense. But then again, nor did Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali either, and everyone agrees they were geniuses. The fact that it all comes off as credible anyway is a tribute to all the people who made it look and feel so fantastically real and unreal.
  • odonoghuematthew
    November 13, 2009
    odonoghuematthew
    Best Makeup 2000 - Best Costume 2000 - Best Art Direction 2000
  • marissah589
    November 11, 2009
    marissah589
    Jennifer Lopez Sucks. that's just how it is...
  • ahhh1989
    October 27, 2009
    ahhh1989
    One of the most twisted pieces of art I've ever seen. It's a visual, mental, and logical feast.
  • xoxoGossipGirl7
    October 22, 2009
    xoxoGossipGirl7
    Really creepy and really disturbing. Too creepy and too disturbing for me.
  • Kashkavall
    October 16, 2009
    Kashkavall
    freaky movie lol, if u want to be scared a bit i think u should give it a try :D

View All The Cell Reviews

Critic Reviews

March 7, 2005
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Tarsem uses the dramatically shallow plot to create a dream world densely packed with images of beauty and terror that cling to the memory even if you don't want them to. full review

January 1, 2000
Colin Covert, The Minneapolis Star Tribune

The Cell is remarkably well made, which makes it all the more alarming and disturbing. full review

January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

One of the best films of the year. full review

January 1, 2000
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

Whatever happened to minimalism?

View more The Cell reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments

  • michellefortuin
    October 11, 2009
    michellefortuin
    Hmm.. I don't know exactly what I should think about The Cell. Jennifer Lopez and Vincent D'Onofrio were both good, but the story was very weird.
    The coma of Edward added nothing to the movie. Nothing at all!
    The idea of sneaking into anybody's mind is interesting, although I don't know if this would be possible in real life, but the story in this movie is just strange! Not very clear..
    And the ending is very bad. A pity.
  • Marilynstates
    March 6, 2009
    Marilynstates
    Very wicked... my new word LoL
  • kittbelledj92093
    November 24, 2007
    kittbelledj92093
    This moive is so clever and thought out, it's the best moive on the planet, I love Vincent D'Onofrio, best actor ever!!
  • flower2605
    June 29, 2007
    flower2605
    This movie kicks ass! I love this movie, I love the special effects and the plot, kind of makes you think, what is my mind like???
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