''The Cell'' is a 2000
science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
psychological horror film directed by
Tarsem Singh in his
directorial debut, written by
Mark Protosevich, and starring
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...
,
Vince Vaughn, and
Vincent D'Onofrio. The film follows a team of scientists as they use experimental technology to help a
social worker enter the mind of a comatose serial killer in order to locate where he has hidden his latest kidnap victim.
Marianne Jean-Baptiste,
Jake Weber,
Dylan Baker,
Tara Subkoff, and
Pruitt Taylor Vince appear in supporting roles.
Protosevich began developing the film in the mid-1990s, and sold the screenplay to
New Line Cinema
New Line Productions, Inc., Trade name, doing business as New Line Cinema, is an American film production, film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, a division of the Major film studios, ...
in 1998, at which point Singh became attached as director. A co-production between the United States and Germany, ''The Cell'' was filmed in 1999 in California, with additional photography occurring in
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...
and
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
.
''The Cell'' premiered in the United States in August 2000 and received "deeply divided" reviews from film critics,
[ with some praising the visuals, direction, make-up, costumes and D'Onofrio's performance, and others criticizing the plot, an emphasis on style rather than substance, and masochistic creation. Among the critics who hailed the film was ]Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
, who named it one of the ten best films of 2000.[ It received numerous nominations and awards from various critical associations, including a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Makeup, as well as four Saturn Award nominations. Despite the film's mixed critical response, it was a box office success, grossing over $104 million against a $33 million budget.
]
Plot
Child psychologist Catherine Deane is hired to conduct an experimental virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...
treatment for coma patients: a "Neurological Cartography and Synaptic Transfer System" device managed by doctors Henry West and Miriam Kent that allows her to enter a comatose mind and attempt to coax them into consciousness. The technology is funded by the parents of her patient, Edward Baines, a young boy left comatose by a viral infection that causes an unusual form of schizophrenia
Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...
. Baines's progress has been hampered by a bogeyman-like alter ego
An alter ego (Latin for "other I") means an alternate Self (psychology), self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original Personality psychology, personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other ...
whom Deane avoids. Despite Deane's lack of progress, West and Kent reject Deane's suggestion to reverse the feed to bring Baines into her mind, fearing the consequences of his experiencing an unfamiliar world.
Serial killer Carl Rudolph Stargher traps his victims in a cell-like glass enclosure that slowly fills with water by means of an automatic timer, then uses a hoist in his basement to suspend himself above their bodies while watching the recorded video of their deaths. He succumbs to the same schizophrenic illness and falls into a coma just as the FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
identifies him, leaving them without any leads as to the location of his latest victim, Julia Hickson. After learning of this experimental technology, Agent Peter Novak persuades Deane to enter Stargher's mind and discover Hickson's location.
Deane enters the dark dreamscape of Stargher's twisted psyche, filled with doll-like versions of his victims. Stargher's innocent side manifests as Young Stargher and leads Deane through his memories of abuse
Abuse is the act of improper usage or treatment of a person or thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, ...
he suffered at the hands of his sadistic father. Deane nurtures Young Stargher in hopes of obtaining Hickson's location, but she is thwarted by another manifestation: King Stargher, a demonic idealization of his murderous side that dominates the dreamscape. King Stargher torments Deane until she forgets the world is not real. Dr. West discovers this while monitoring Deane's vitals. He warns that what happens to Deane while she is integrated into Stargher's mindscape will inflict neurological damage on her real body. Novak volunteers to enter Stargher's mind to make Deane remember herself.
Inside Stargher's mind, Novak is captured and subjected to King Stargher's torture while Deane looks on as Stargher's servant. Novak reminds Deane of a painful memory of her younger brother who died after a six-month coma due to a car accident during her college years to reawaken her awareness that she is in Stargher's mind. Deane breaks free of Stargher's hold and stabs King Stargher to free Novak. During their escape, Novak sees a version of the glass enclosure with the same insignia as the hoist in Stargher's basement. Novak's team discovers that after the hoist's previous owner went bankrupt, the government hired Stargher to seal up his property in rural Bakersfield. Novak races to the property and finds Hickson treading water in the enclosure and breathing through a pipe. Novak breaks the glass wall and rescues Hickson.
Deane, now sympathetic to Young Stargher, locks her colleagues out and reverses the feed of the device to pull Stargher's mind into her own. She presents a comforting paradise to Young Stargher, but he knows it is only a temporary reprieve from King Stargher. He shifts to Adult Stargher to relate a childhood story of when he drowned an injured bird as a mercy killing to prevent its torture at his father's hands. King Stargher intrudes as a serpentine humanoid, but this time, Deane is in control and she beats him to a bloody pulp before impaling him with a sword. However, Young Stargher exhibits the same injuries as King Stargher, and killing either manifestation kills Stargher. Adult Stargher reminds her of the story of the bird and implores her to "save" him. Deane, appearing as a Virgin Mary
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
-like figure, carries Young Stargher into a pool, putting him out of his misery as Stargher dies in the real world.
In the aftermath, Deane and Novak meet outside of Stargher's house. The FBI has officially excluded the mind technology from their inquiry and Deane has gained approval to use the reverse feed on Edward Baines. Inside the paradise of Deane's mindscape, Baines walks to embrace Deane.
Cast
Production
Development
Screenwriter Mark Protosevich wrote the screenplay for ''The Cell'' after a six-year period in the 1990s of writing screenplays in different genres. Protosevich wrote the screenplay at a time when he was "incredibly fascinated by serial killer
A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone:
*
*
*
*
* (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...
s. I was doing a lot of research about actual serial killers and I found that many of them were victims of extreme abuse when they were children. I was intrigued by the question of whether it was possible to develop compassion for someone who has done terrible, dreadful things, but has suffered their own kind of torture. Or should we not have compassion for a killer because in the end we all have to be held accountable for our actions?"[
Many of the science fiction elements of the story were inspired by the film '' Dreamscape'' (1984) and various science fiction literature: "I was always curious to see what would happen if I delved into that area too. I had also been having some freaky dreams about drowning, which is one of my great fears, even though oddly enough I swim every day. Writing ''The Cell'' was the perfect way to blend together these different areas of interest."][
Protosevich envisioned the film's surreal dream sequences as having a similar visual appearance to those in '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors'' (1987), but noted that, when director Tarsem Singh became involved in the production, they "became something else entirely, because he was coming from such a richly visual world."][ Singh's attachment to the project as director was announced in November 1998, with ]New Line Cinema
New Line Productions, Inc., Trade name, doing business as New Line Cinema, is an American film production, film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, a division of the Major film studios, ...
producing the film. Singh felt the film was a "perfect jumping ground... What interested me was the blank canvas of going into the mind... I wanted to go into the mind and play it like an opera, like theater."
Casting
Jennifer Lopez was cast as the film's lead in June 1999. In July 1999, it was reported that Vince Vaughn was in "final negotiations" to appear in the film as FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
Agent Peter Novak, along with Marianne Jean-Baptiste playing the role of one of the scientific researchers in the film.
In preparing for his role as Carl Rudolph Stargher, the deviant serial killer in the film, Vincent D'Onofrio isolated himself from his wife and children, and spoke with FBI agents in order to gain a better understanding of the minds of serial murderers. Collaborating with Singh, D'Onofrio developed a makeshift case study of the character to analyze different fragments of his personality.[
Singh cast actor Pruitt Taylor Vince in a small role as a physician in the film after having been impressed by his performance in '' Jacob's Ladder'' (1990).]
Filming
Principal photography of ''The Cell'' began in Los Angeles in late-July 1999.[ The scene where the Special Agents are trying to convince Dr. Catherine Deane to enter the killer's mind was recorded at the Barcelona Pavilion in Barcelona, Spain. Other filming locations included in Africa at Deadvlei in the Namib-Naukluft National Park, as well as several locations in California, including the Neurosciences Institute in ]La Jolla, California
La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature o ...
; Bakersfield; and at Linda Vista Community Hospital in Los Angeles. During filming, screenwriter Protosevich was actively rewriting scenes in the film to help facilitate Singh's visual goals.[
In an audio commentary for the film's DVD release, Singh commented that the water-filled tank sequences involving actress Tara Subkoff were marred by difficulties, which he attributed to her struggling with the elements of the scene, specifically being able to hold her breath for extended periods.][ As a result, some of the scenes were completed using long shots.][
]
Artistic influences
Some of the scenes in ''The Cell'' are inspired by works of art. A scene in which a horse is split into sections by falling glass panels was inspired by the works of British artist Damien Hirst. The film also includes scenes based on the work of other late 20th century artists, including Odd Nerdrum
Odd Nerdrum (born 8 April 1944) is a Norwegian Figurative art, figurative painting, painter. A controversial figure in Norway, he is known for his anti-modernist stance. Themes and style in Nerdrum's work reference anecdote and narrative. Primar ...
, H. R. Giger and the Brothers Quay. Tarsem—who began his career directing music videos such as En Vogue's " Hold On" and R.E.M.'s " Losing My Religion"—drew upon such imagery for Stargher's dream sequences. In particular, it has been speculated that he was influenced by videos directed by Mark Romanek, such as " Closer" and " The Perfect Drug" by Nine Inch Nails, " Bedtime Story" by Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
, and the many videos that Floria Sigismondi directed for Marilyn Manson. During a scene, Jennifer Lopez's character falls asleep watching a film; the film is '' Fantastic Planet'' (1973).
In the scene where Catherine talks with Carl while he is "cleaning" his first victim, the scenery resembles the music video "Losing My Religion" by R.E.M. The scene where Peter Novak first enters the mind of Carl Stargher, and is confronted by three women with mouths open to the sky, is based on the painting '' Dawn'' by Norwegian painter Odd Nerdrum
Odd Nerdrum (born 8 April 1944) is a Norwegian Figurative art, figurative painting, painter. A controversial figure in Norway, he is known for his anti-modernist stance. Themes and style in Nerdrum's work reference anecdote and narrative. Primar ...
. The scene when Catherine is chasing Carl through a stone hallway, right before she enters the room with the horse, is based on the H. R. Giger painting "Schacht".
In addition to its surreal artistic images, the film also features a number of religious motifs, including Catherine Deane appearing as a figure that resembles Virgin Mary
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
in the film's climactic sequence. Singh responded to criticism of the costume by stating that he had not intended it to appear as the Virgin Mary, but rather as a Brazilian water goddess: "You need to look at her costume the way Indian truck drivers would. They have drawings of gods and goddesses on the backs of matchboxes, and they really kitsch them up, and that was my model. Someone did say she looks like a nun, and I thought, well, if she does, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. I’m not saying anything derogatory in that scene." Singh did concede that the sequence in which Agent Peter Novak has his intestines wound out of his abdomen was inspired by torture methods used during the Catholic Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition () was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile and lasted until 1834. It began toward the end of ...
.[
]
Release
New Line Cinema
New Line Productions, Inc., Trade name, doing business as New Line Cinema, is an American film production, film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, a division of the Major film studios, ...
released ''The Cell'' in the United States on August 18, 2000.[ It premiered in Australia on November 13, 2000, and in Germany on November 23, 2000.][
]
Home media
New Line Home Entertainment first released ''The Cell'' on VHS and DVD on December 19, 2000. New Line later issued the film on Blu-ray
Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
on July 7, 2015.
On January 21, 2025, Arrow Video released the film in limited edition 4K UHD Blu-ray and Blu-ray releases, featuring both the theatrical cut and a director's cut of the film, as well as an unreleased third version featuring alternate color grading by cinematographer Paul Laufer.
Reception
Box office
''The Cell'' was a commercial hit in the United States, grossing $17,515,050 during its opening weekend and opening at number one at the U.S. box office
A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...
. It marked the highest-grossing film opening of Lopez's career at the time. The film largely attracted audience members under the age of 35, and consisted of equal parts male and female moviegoers.[ It went on to gross $61,334,059 in the United States alone, with 11,369,380 tickets sold nationwide.][ It earned an additional $5,326,613 in Germany,][ and $1,552,295 in Australia.][ Worldwide, it grossed a total of $104,155,843,][ making it the 32nd highest-grossing film of 2000.]
Critical response
Upon its release, critical reaction to ''The Cell'' was "deeply divided," with some praising its visual elements, and others deriding it for its violence.[ Audiences surveyed by ]CinemaScore
CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data.
Background
Ed Mintz, who ...
gave the film a grade "C+" on scale of A to F.
One of the most positive reviews came from Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
, who awarded the film four stars out of four, writing: "For all of its visual pyrotechnics, it's also a story where we care about the characters; there's a lot at stake at the end, and we're involved. I know people who hate it, finding it pretentious or unrestrained; I think it's one of the best films of the year." Ebert later placed the film on his list of "The Best 10 Movies of 2000", writing: "Tarsem, the director, is a visual virtuoso who juggles his storylines effortlessly; it's dazzling, the way he blends so many notes, styles and genres into a film so original." James Berardinelli gave the film three stars out of four, writing: "''The Cell'' becomes the first serial killer feature in a long time to take the genre in a new direction. Not only does it defy formulaic expectations, but it challenges the viewer to think and consider the horrors that can turn an ordinary child into an inhuman monster. There are no easy answers, and ''The Cell'' doesn't pretend to offer any. Instead, Singh presents audiences with the opportunity to go on a harrowing journey. For those who are up to the challenge, it's worth spending time in ''The Cell''." Peter Travers from ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'' wrote that "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."
Conversely, Stephen Hunter of ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' called it "contrived", "arbitrary", and "overdrawn". '' Slate''s David Edelstein panned the film as well, writing: "When I go to a serial-killer flick, I don't want to see the serial killer (or even his inner child) coddled and empathized with and forgiven. I want to see him shot, stabbed, impaled, eviscerated, and finally engulfed—shrieking—in flames. ''The Cell'' serves up some of the most gruesomely misogynistic imagery in years, then ends with a bid for understanding." Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for '' The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has contributed to ...
of the ''Chicago Reader
The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. The ''Reader'' has been ...
'' remarked, "There's almost no plot here and even less character—just a lot of pretexts for S&M imagery, Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
decor, gobs of gore, and the usual designer schizophrenia
Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...
." William Thomas of ''Empire
An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...
'' gave the film two stars out of five, stating that "at times beautiful and always disturbing, this is strangely devoid of meaning."
Accolades
Sequel
A sequel was released direct to DVD on June 16, 2009. The story centers on The Cusp, a serial killer who murders his victims, and then brings them back to life, over and over again until they beg to die. Maya ( Tessie Santiago) is a psychic investigator and surviving victim of The Cusp, whose abilities developed after spending a year in a coma. Maya must use her powers to travel into the mind of the killer unprotected, in order to save his latest victim.
See also
* ''Dreamscape'' (1984 film)
* ''Paperhouse'' (film)
* Eiko Ishioka
References
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:The Cell
2000 films
2000 crime thriller films
2000 directorial debut films
2000 horror films
2000 psychological thriller films
2000 science fiction films
2000s American films
2000s English-language films
2000s German films
2000s horror thriller films
2000s psychological horror films
2000s science fiction horror films
2000s science fiction thriller films
2000s serial killer films
American crime thriller films
American horror thriller films
American psychological horror films
American psychological thriller films
American science fiction horror films
American science fiction thriller films
American serial killer films
BDSM in films
Crime horror films
English-language German films
Films about child abuse
Films about nightmares
Films about psychoanalysis
Films about schizophrenia
Films about telepresence
Films directed by Tarsem Singh
Films scored by Howard Shore
Films set underwater
Films shot in Barcelona
Films shot in California
Films shot in Los Angeles
Films shot in Namibia
Films shot in San Diego
German crime thriller films
German horror thriller films
German psychological thriller films
German science fiction horror films
German science fiction thriller films
German serial killer films
New Line Cinema films
Science fiction crime films
German psychological horror films
English-language science fiction horror films
English-language horror thriller films
English-language science fiction thriller films
English-language crime thriller films