Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
A psychotherapist journeys inside a comatose serial killer in the hopes of saving his latest victim.
The Cell is a genuinely singular visual experience — Tarsem Singh's debut feature is stunningly conceived, with each dreamscape sequence a breathtaking, painterly tableau drawing on Dali, Giger, and high fashion. The cinematography is legitimately exceptional, among the most visually distinctive of any mainstream thriller from the era. Novelty is equally high: the mind-diving serial killer premise executed with this level of surrealist ambition is unlike anything before or since. Acting is serviceable — Lopez brings empathy and J.Lo carries the physical demands well, while D'Onofrio is effectively menacing, though neither is given much psychological depth to work with. The plot is the film's clear weakness: the procedural FBI elements are formulaic and the internal dream logic, while visually arresting, is dramatically thin. The ending deflates much of the tension built up, resolving too neatly and conventionally for a film so committed to strangeness.