Overview: Sublime, grotesque and visually ravishing, Tarsem Singh’s debut feature delivers on the extraordinary artistry of his work in music video and commercials as it takes the audience on a journey through the bizarre worlds inside the mind of a killer.

When serial murderer Carl Stargher (Vincent D’Onofrio) falls into a coma with his latest victim still trapped in an unknown location and waiting to die, the FBI turn to psychologist Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez) for help. Using an experimental technology she enters the dark dreamscape of Stargher’s mind, attempting to learn his secrets before it’s too late. But his unconscious is a twisted nightmare, a labyrinth that threatens to trap her inside his terrifying world forever. To save a life, she’ll have to risk her own.

With a script by Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend), and a supporting cast that includes Vince Vaughn (Brawl in Cell Block 99) and Marianne Jean-Baptiste (In Fabric), The Cell is a gripping, edge-of-the-seat thriller, filled with jaw-dropping imagery that will entrance and unsettle in equal measure.

4K UHD Blu-ray Verdict: In my opinion, the last film that provided a vivid and disturbing look at what insanity was probably the brilliant In Dreams. In that movie, you didn’t see insanity, you were there within it. Then The Cell came along with an updated and much more disturbing portrayal of inside of the mind of a psychotic killer.

The opening scene takes you into the seemingly innocent mind of a comatose little boy, and the things that Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez) sees are, at first fascinating, but then also very much terrifying. The things that she later sees in the mind of Vincent Stargher (Vincent D’Onofrio) are amazingly imaginative and fascinating, which (at that time) most of this stuff has never been seen in film before.

The story of The Cell is not exactly something that is really groundbreaking. In fact, it is basically the same as the story within Silence of the Lambs. You have a killer in custody and these people have to enter his mind to find a female victim who is currently in danger of losing her life. The only real difference between the foundation of the plots is that in Silence of the Lambs, you have to enter the mind of a killer to find a different killer as well as his current victim. While in The Cell, you have to enter the mind of a killer to find his own victim.

However, despite the unfortunately weak story, The Cell completely revolutionizes the genre of the psychological thriller. None that have ever been made even come close to it at that time (maybe since).

Also, the film had good direction and was extremely well acted. Vince Vaughn delivers another of his characteristically excellent performances (he was even good as Norman Bates in the pathetic 1998 re-make of Psycho, if you ask me), and even Jennifer Lopez puts forth the second good effort of her career (the other being the great Out of Sight).

Nothing can be said of the cinematography in The Cell to give it sufficient credit, for it was imaginative and fascinatingly done and is unparalleled by anything ever seen in cinematic history. Simply put, The Cell is an incredibly well-made film, and it deserves to be recognized here in 2025 once again, here in this wondrous 4K UHD form.

2-DISC 4K ULTRA HD LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS:
Brand new 4K restorations of both the 107-minute Theatrical Cut and the 109-minute Director’s Cut by Arrow Films, approved by director Tarsem Singh Includes bonus disc containing a previously unseen version of the film with alternate aspect ratio and alternate grading created by director of photography Paul Laufer
Original lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Illustrated collector’s book containing new writing on the film by critics Heather Drain, Marc Edward Heuck, Josh Hurtado, and Virat Nehru
Limited edition packaging with reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Peter Savieri

DISC 1 - FEATURE & EXTRAS (4K ULTRA HD):
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray™ (2160p) presentation of both the Theatrical and Director’s cuts of the film in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio with Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
Brand new audio commentary with film scholars Josh Nelson & Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
Brand new audio commentary with screenwriter Mark Protosevich & film critic Kay Lynch
Archive audio commentary with director Tarsem Singh
Archive audio commentary with director of photography Paul Laufer, production designer Tom Foden, makeup supervisor Michèle Burke, costume designer April Napier, visual effects supervisor Kevin Tod Haug, and composer Howard Shore
Projection of the Mind’s Eye, a new feature-length interview with director Tarsem Singh
Between Two Worlds, a new in-depth interview with director of photography Paul Laufer

DISC 2 - ALTERNATE VERSION & EXTRAS (BLU-RAY):
Previously unseen version of the Theatrical Cut of the film, presented in 1.78:1 aspect ratio with alternate grading, from a 2K master created by director of photography Paul Laufer
High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation
Paul Laufer Illuminates, a new interview about the alternate master of The Cell presented on this disc
Art is Where You Find It, a new visual essay by film scholar Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
The Costuming Auteur, a new visual essay by film critic Abbey Bender
Style as Substance: Reflections on Tarsem, an archive featurette
Eight deleted/extended scenes with optional audio commentary by director Tarsem Singh
Six multi-angle archive visual effects vignettes
Theatrical trailers
Image gallery

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