The Cell
Universal, 2000
Directed by Tarsem Singh

$$$

The Cell is the sickest, most disturbing, most disgusting movie in a decade. That's meant as both a compliment -- and a warning.

Refrain from eating for at least six hours prior to viewing this movie. Those with heart conditions should not attend a screening.

Anyone who'd have great difficulty watching someone's intestines slowly pulled out of their body should probably avoid this film.

Still with us? Those who are brave enough to venture into The Cell will find a visual feast of stunning images enveloping an effective psychological thriller.

The story is like Silence of the Lambs with a Matrix-style twist. Jennifer Lopez is a psychologist who does a Vulcan mind-meld of sorts, going inside the mind of a catatonic serial killer through the use of a virtual reality device (don't ask). Once inside, the killer's mind is represented in three-dimensional terms by a symbolic landscape of representative spaces. The killer's darker memories are in a basement-type setting -- get it? It's an enjoyably engrossing idea -- when the images aren't grossing you out.

Her purpose is to try and help unlock the secret of where the killer's last victim is being held. She's not dead, but an automated machine will drown her in 40 hours unless she's found. Vince Vaughn plays an FBI agent in charge of the case, and his scenes in the real world are just as interesting as Lopez's journey inside the killer's mind.

The artist painting this broad canvas is first-time feature director Tarsem Singh. Prior to this, he directed music videos -- most notably REM's Losing My Religion video and some of the visual style of that mini-masterpiece is reflected here. The film he gives us is visually intense, (did we mention) brilliantly disturbing, and totally unrelenting. I thought the only people who could make a movie like this were named Kubrick and Gilliam. If Mr. Singh keeps it up, we may have to add another name to that list.

(c) Copyright 2000