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The Cell

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The Cell
Original film poster
Directed by	Tarsem Singh
Produced by	Julio Caro Eric McLeod
Written by	Mark Protosevich
Starring	Jennifer Lopez Vince Vaughn Vincent D'Onofrio Jake Weber Dylan Baker Marianne Jean-Baptiste Jake Thomas
Music by	Howard Shore Master Musicians of Jajouka
Cinematography	Paul Laufer
Editing by	Robert Duffy Paul Rubell
Release date(s)	August 18, 2000
Running time	107 min.
Country	U.S.
Language	English
Budget	$33,000,000
Gross revenue	$104,155,843
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Cell is a 2000 psychological thriller film written by Mark Protosevich and directed by Tarsem Singh. The movie was nominated for the Academy Award for Makeup. Some external scenes in the film were shot at the Neurosciences Institute in La Jolla, California.

1 Plot
2 Artistic influences
3 Controversy
4 Box office
5 Cast
6 References
7 External links

Plot

Child psychologist Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez) is an expert in an experimental treatment for coma patients. This involves wearing a virtual reality suit and complete sensory immersion within the minds of her patients in order to coax them out of their coma. Here, she can meet and communicate with them in dream-like sequences. The story begins inside a little boy's mind with Catherine, dressed in a white gown riding a black horse, in a desert to meet with him. Catherine attempts to talk to the boy, Edward, whom she calls "Mr. E". Meanwhile, there is a disturbed serial killer named Carl Rudolph Stargher, played by Vincent D'Onofrio, who captures his victims, who are beautiful women, and then imprisons them in a glass cell, hidden in the basement of an abandoned manufacturing facility. In this cell a shower periodically turns on and showers them for a short time, and will then abruptly stop. Eventually, however, it turns on and doesn't stop. The whole cell is filled with water and the victims drown (with this being videotaped for his later viewing pleasure). After further mutilation of their corpses, he dumps their bodies in a ditch off a highway to be found by the FBI. The police have been tracking Carl down for quite some time. But just as they finally apprehend him, however, he falls into a coma due to his unusual form of schizophrenia, before they can find out where his latest abductee, and her glass cell, is located. Catherine is contacted by the FBI to venture into Carl's mind to find the answer before the cell fills with water and it is too late. The killer's mind, however, is an extremely strange, abstract, sexual, violent and disturbing place, drastically different from those of her previous patients. She finds it difficult to stay in the hostile and frightening environment for any considerable length of time. During her repeated attempts to find a way to communicate with Stargher, she realizes that there are basically two separate 'entities' within the man's psyche. The dominant personality represents the serial killer within Stargher, usually appearing to Catherine as the adult Stargher, but his form is often twisted into a demonic, almost god-like phantasm. He treats her as a lower being, a pet for him to toy with, as he views her as another potential victim. The submissive personality takes the form of a frightened little boy, who often lures Catherine into memories from Stargher's childhood. The boy seems interested in helping Catherine, and she too feels an obligation to help set this innocent part of Stargher's mind free from the dark influence of his alter ego. Simultaneously the FBI goes off to try to save Stargher's last abductee who is drowning in the cell which is by now completely filled with water.

Artistic influences

Some scenes are inspired by works of art. For example, a scene in which a horse is split into sections was inspired by the works of British artist Damien Hirst.^[1] The film also includes scenes based on the work of other late 20th century artists, including Odd Nerdrum, H. R. Giger and the Brothers Quay.^[1]

Controversy

Film critic Michael Medved, among others, criticized the film at the time of its release for a brief scene near the beginning in which Lopez's character is shown smoking what appears to be a marijuana joint. Medved accused the film of glamorizing drug use.^[2]