Synopsis

Social worker Catherine Deane uses experimental technology to enter the mind of a comatose serial killer. As she searches his fractured subconscious for the location of his latest victim, Catherine encounters a shifting world shaped by trauma, fantasy, and control. To survive the killer's psychological landscape, she must understand the forces that created his monstrous inner kingdom.

Factoids & Trivia

• The Cell was Tarsem Singh's feature-film directorial debut after his work in commercials and music videos.

• Screenwriter Mark Protosevich developed the project during the 1990s before selling the screenplay to New Line Cinema in 1998.

• The film was shot in the Super 35 format, using Kodak Vision 200T 5274 film stock throughout the production.

• Much of the footage depicting the killer's inner world was scanned and color-treated to create its distinctive appearance, even when the scenes did not contain conventional visual effects.

• Costume designer Eiko Ishioka had previously won an Academy Award for Bram Stoker's Dracula. Her elaborate, sculptural designs became one of The Cell's most recognizable creative features.

• Ishioka later continued her collaboration with Tarsem Singh on The Fall, Immortals, and Mirror Mirror.

• The image of a horse divided into suspended sections was influenced by the work of British artist Damien Hirst.

• The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Makeup and was also recognized with nominations for production design and visual effects.

• Roger Ebert included The Cell on his list of the ten best films of 2000, praising its combination of psychological thriller elements, science fiction, and elaborate visual invention.