The Cell (film)
| The Cell | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| 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 |
| Music by |
Howard Shore Master Musicians of Jajouka |
| Cinematography | Paul Laufer |
| Edited by | Robert Duffy |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
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Release date
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Running time
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107 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $33 million |
| Box office | $104,155,843 |
The Cell is a 2000 American science fiction psychological thriller film and the directorial debut of Tarsem Singh, starring Jennifer Lopez, Vince Vaughn and Vincent D'Onofrio. It received mixed reviews upon its release, with critics praising the visuals, direction, make-up, costumes and D'Onofrio's performance while critcizing the Silence of the Lambs-inspired plot, an emphasis on style rather than substance, and masochistic imagery.
Child psychologist Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez) is hired to conduct an experimental virtual reality treatment for coma patients: a "Neurological Cartography and Synaptic Transfer System" device managed by Drs. 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 (Colton James), a young boy left comatose by a latent viral infection that causes an unusual form of schizophrenia. 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 unknown consequences of him experiencing an unfamiliar world.
Serial killer Carl Rudolph Stargher (Vincent D'Onofrio) traps his victims in a cell in the form of a 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 identifies him, leaving them without any leads as to the location of his latest victim, Julia Hickson (Tara Subkoff). After learning of this experimental technology, Agent Peter Novak (Vince Vaughn) persuades Deane to enter Stargher's mind and discover Hickson's location.
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