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The Cell offers disturbing, stunning eye candy, but its visual pleasures are no match for a confused storyline that undermines the movie's inventive aesthetic.
All Critics (163) | Top Critics (44) | Fresh (73) | Rotten (90) | DVD (12)
Jazzy photography and fancy design in no way compensate for a dull, suspense-free screenplay and unwise casting. Apr 1, 2019 | Full Review…
Jazzy photography and fancy design in no way compensate for a dull, suspense-free screenplay and unwise casting.
Andrew Pulver
Ultimately, the reliance on a dream world tends to reduce suspense and even narrative logic. Thus, everything is possible and nothing is necessary. Apr 1, 2019 | Full Review…
Ultimately, the reliance on a dream world tends to reduce suspense and even narrative logic. Thus, everything is possible and nothing is necessary.
Andrew Sarris
The Cell is pretty silly. But I admired its cinematic ambition until the final scenes. Mar 31, 2019 | Full Review…
The Cell is pretty silly. But I admired its cinematic ambition until the final scenes.
David Edelstein
The summer's silliest cinematic experience has to be The Cell, ostensibly a slightly futuristic serial killer movie but, subtextually, a commercial for the Saatchi collection. Mar 31, 2019 | Full Review…
The summer's silliest cinematic experience has to be The Cell, ostensibly a slightly futuristic serial killer movie but, subtextually, a commercial for the Saatchi collection.
Amy Taubin
Like [anyone's] imagination, the movie's landscape is littered with half-remembered pop artifacts... what's different is that Tarsem, a commercial and video director here making his feature debut, sticks the protagonists in a garden of unearthly delights. Mar 31, 2019 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
Like [anyone's] imagination, the movie's landscape is littered with half-remembered pop artifacts... what's different is that Tarsem, a commercial and video director here making his feature debut, sticks the protagonists in a garden of unearthly delights.
Jami Bernard
The deeper the movie goes into its characters' heads, the more it finds shallow, familiar scenes of sexual domination and submission Mar 31, 2019 | Full Review…
The deeper the movie goes into its characters' heads, the more it finds shallow, familiar scenes of sexual domination and submission
Joe Morgenstern
"The Cell" is not for everyone, but some will find it a portal to some extraordinary sights. Apr 1, 2019 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…
"The Cell" is not for everyone, but some will find it a portal to some extraordinary sights.
Deborah Hornblow
It's eye candy, all right, but lacks any nutritional value. Apr 1, 2019 | Full Review…
It's eye candy, all right, but lacks any nutritional value.
Leah Rozen
A must-see for fans of dark psychological thrillers. Apr 1, 2019 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…
A must-see for fans of dark psychological thrillers.
Dalia Levy
Even if "The Cell" doesn't stand up to deep examination, it's nevertheless a strongly engrossing thriller that delivers ample chills and thrills with its hellish, Hieronymus Bosch-like images alone. Apr 1, 2019 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…
Even if "The Cell" doesn't stand up to deep examination, it's nevertheless a strongly engrossing thriller that delivers ample chills and thrills with its hellish, Hieronymus Bosch-like images alone.
Dennis King
The Cell is Hollywood at its most meretricious. Apr 1, 2019 | Full Review…
The Cell is Hollywood at its most meretricious.
Film4 Staff
"The Cell" looks spectacular. If only it never opened its mouth. Apr 1, 2019 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…
"The Cell" looks spectacular. If only it never opened its mouth.
Chris Kaltenbach
It is certainly a gorgeous film to look at but the plot is weakened by the fact that Jennifer Lopez is seriously miscast and not at all convincing as a psychiatrist well suited for her job, especially given how the character's motivations are so unprofessional and confusing in the last act.
Super Reviewer
Visually stunning but thematically scant take on what it would be like to enter another's psyche, in this case a serial (psycho/sexual) killer whose last victim is still trapped in a cell somewhere. Lopez and D'Onofrio are competent as antagonists delivering the drama but Vaughn is very good in this, his least Vaughn-like of roles.
I really do admire Tarsem's The Cell for it's amazing nightmare sequences. However, the hit-or-miss casting and lack of interest make this a lot worse than it theoretically should be. While Jennifer Lopez and Vince Vaughn are fine on their own, this miscasting wasn't beneficial to either of their strengths. Thankfully Vincent D'Onofrio's complete tour-de-force makes the movie as intriguing as it is, making you want to see nothing but a two hour dream sequence with him being bizarre. The visuals are landmarks for their time, mainly because it avoids heavy CGI and focuses on optical illusions. When I think about it, these were some of the best "dream sequences" i've ever seen. They were so visually and stylistically unsettling and surreal.
This was sort of interesting.
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