The Cell (2000) – Film Review

Director: Tarsem Singh
Cast: Jennifer Lopez, Vince Vaughn, Vincent D’Onofrio
Certificate: 18

By Sarah Morgan

Few directors have their name turned into an adjective, but the late, great David Lynch’s was.

His oeuvre was so idiosyncratic and influential that the word Lynchian was created to describe TV or film projects that display surreal, mystifying and disturbing imagery. The Cell is one of them.

Over the years, the term has been rather overused by those who don’t really understand Lynch’s work; the label is stuck onto anything that features dreamlike visions or a confusing narrative, and that’s the case here. So while it’s true that it’s visually arresting, The Cell lacks the mystery, depth and downright disturbing weirdness that Lynch embraced. But that’s not to say it isn’t an intriguing watch.

“Shock”

Jennifer Lopez may be more famous for simply being J-Lo these days, but I’ve often found her to be a compelling actress, hitting the heights in Out of Sight alongside George Clooney, adding charm to various romcoms (Marry Me is a personal guilty pleasure) and impressing again in Hustlers. Here she’s rather good as child psychologist Catherine Deane, who works as part of a team conducting experimental virtual reality treatments for comatose patients.

The scheme involves transplanting herself into the minds of those she’s treating in an effort to unlock their psychological problems, the hope being that they will then awaken.

Her latest task, however, involves serial killer Carl Stargher, whose raison d’etre involves kidnapping women, holding them in a glass box and then, after several days, drowning them; he gains pleasure by suspending himself over their bodies and rewatching their final moments.

FBI agent Peter Novak and his colleagues capture Stargher, but the shock causes him to enter into a schizophrenic-driven coma. Novak hopes that Catherine can enter his mind and discover where he has hidden his most recent victim so that her life can be saved.

“Bonkers”

It’s the visions she has while exploring the murderer’s subconscious that make The Cell worth watching – they are startling and inventive, something that cannot be said for the plot. Really, without the, frankly bonkers, psychological element, it’s little more than a fairly standard crime thriller. The ‘revelation’ concerning the reasons for Stargher’s behaviour is something of a cliche too.

But you can’t knock the performances of Lopez and her co-stars Vince Vaughn (Novak) and Vincent D’Onofrio (Stargher), who give it their all. Such familiar faces as Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Dylan Baker also have supporting roles.

This new 4k restoration comes in two versions – the theatrical release and director’s cut, and there are so many special features, a bonus disc was needed to contain them all.