THE CELL

ENTERTAINMENT FILM

RELEASED 15 September 2000

Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez) is a child psychologist experimenting with a radical new therapy where she enters the mind of the patient through transcendental science (ie both patients are held motionless by wires while wearing sexy red-ribbed leather suits and having drugs pumped into them). When a now-comatose serial killer is caught by the FBI, they ask Lopez to enter his mind to discover the location of his last abductee who will otherwise die in forty hours. This sci-fi thriller burns some memorably weird images onto the back of the old retinas, liberally borrowing from artists such as Bacon, Bosch, and Hirst. There’s lot’s of blood, bondage, exotic costumes and glass-eyed dolls. While the characters and script lack depth, the visuals (especially the knockout looks of Lopez) are enough to keep even the most fidgety viewer glued to the screen.

THREE OUT OF FIVE