SHANNON’S DRIVE-IN: THE CELL

Shannon tags along for the ride into the mind of a serial killer in 2000’s The Cell.

A child psychologist enters the mind of a serial killer using the VR latest technology.

Director: Tarsem Singh

Writer: Mark Protosevich

Stars: Jennifer Lopez, Vince Vaughn, Vincent D’Onofrio, Marianne Jean-Baptiste

The Cell is a rather odd entry in the serial killer thriller subgenre. It’s part thriller, part painting come to life. It was released around that time when movies were being inspired to be a bit more trippy, mind-bending their way into the memories of audiences. Filmmakers moved more towards being weird and artsy and created a turn of the century trend of mindfuck movies. The era of The Matrix, Fight Club, Donnie Darko, stories to bend your brain while also feeling as if there is some deeper message involved, but in order to figure it out you just have take drugs and discuss it with your friends.

The Cell was also another vehicle for J. Lo’s acting career in the 2000’s!

Jennifer Lopez plays Catherine Deane, a child psychologist who is hired to use an experimental virtual reality treatment to take trips into the minds of coma patients, finding keys through their subconscious in order to wake them up. When serial killer Carl Stargher (Vincent D’Onofrio) falls into a coma and the FBI needs to know where he stowed away his latest victim, Deane is tasked with the job of going into his hellscape of a brain to find the information they need.

It’s an offbeat and interesting premise, the kind of idea a surreal and disturbing 2000’s serial killer movie should offer. Deep down though, you know you have to suspend your disbelief as to how the science of this virtual reality system works. Another thing, don’t try to make too much sense out of the visuals. They are there not so much to provide meaning, but to discombobulate you with random imagery, such as a horse cut into sections or three identical people with their mouths open. In reality though? The horse is inspired by the work of British artist Damien Hirst. The three people with their mouths open is taken from work by Odd Nerdrum. Not so random at all, though they way the scenes are shot make them feel like weird music video images come to life.

Deane travels through the killer’s mind and sees the abuses of his past, and you watch her fall deeper into empathizing with the killer. Every once in a while the movie cuts to tense scenes of the latest victim trapped inside of a glass chamber (the titular CELL) as water is progressively sprayed into her confines and she has to fight against a rising tide. It’s a ticking time clock as Deane meanders through the subconscious. Time seems to stand still when she’s in the killer’s mind, but when you get caught up in the atmosphere that when you’ll pulled out into the real world, things can get jarring, like being startled awake from a dream.

I’ve never found Jennnifer Lopez to be a magnetic actress. Here, she’s adequate enough, providing the film with enough name recognition to get noticed. Vince Vaughn’s role as an everyman FBI agent is the same old character you see in a lot of these films. D’Onofrio as Stargher, brings a significant creep factor as is always needed for a memorable villain in a film like this.

Despite all its weaknesses though, The Cell is a great time, but it also requires looking at it for what it is, and that is a movie-length music video. The look of the movie makes sense when you realize director Tarsem Singhn has directed music videos and a large filmography of TV commercials.

The Cell is a film not meant to be dissected too much as it’s supposed be a moving painting which also feeds into our obsession about where evil comes from. It’s a mind-bender movie, a trip through an era where filmmakers were playing around to see what would happen when they start shaking things up.

Shannon Grant is a writer, performer, adventurer, and horned cryptid living in the wilds of upstate New York. Her work can be found in many small press anthologies such as A Guide to Useless Sidekicks, Catskill Chaos, and The Lizzie Borden House Anthology. She is currently at work on a vampire novella. When not writing, she can be found haunting drive-in movie theaters, karaoke bars, and looking for ghosts in the woods.

PLEASE NOTE: The views and opinions of the staff of Memento Mori Ink do not necessarily represent those of Memento Mori Ink or Crystal Lake Publishing, nor do the views or opinions of Crystal Lake necessarily represent those of Memento Mori Ink or its staff. Thank you for understanding.