This post is part of a larger deep dive
Curious about the role of psychopathy and the Oedipus Complex in The Cell? Check out The Cell Explained!
Director: Tarsem Singh
Producer: Julio Caro, Eric McLeod
Writer: Mark Protosevich
Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Vince Vaughn, Vincent D'Onofrio
Year: 2000
Duration: 1h 47m
Country: U.S.A.
Language: English
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If I had to rank a cinematographic scene which has left an indelible impression on me, the scene of the black dog next to a bathtub brimmed with blood from the film “The Cell” would be in the top 5.
I watched the film some 15 years ago, and I can still remember how this scene gave me the creeps… I re-watched the film again recently, and granted, the scene gave me the creeps.
To me, the Cell remains one of the most visually impressive films depicting the psyche of a deeply troubled man, and in this article we will explore what the contents of that psyche mean.
Catherine Deane is a child psychologist who is currently treating a comatose child patient named Edward Baines. She does so by entering the mind of her patient via some very advanced and experimental virtual reality technology.
In the meanwhile, serial killer Carl Stargher kidnaps young women and slowly drowns them inside a glass enclosure (a cell) that fills up with water via an automatic timer.
Carl had just kidnapped trapped his next victim in the cell, when he suddenly collapses into a coma in his home (due to the the a virus that had also put Catherine’s patient into a coma), moments before the FBI break in.
Desperately to find Carl’s victim, FBI agent Peter Novak recruits Catherine and her colleagues in order to use the virtual reality technology to infiltrate Carl’s mind and persuade him to reveal the whereabouts of his latest victim.
Catherine is reluctant but eventually agrees. Once inside Carl’s mind, she witnesses the horrors of his psychotic mind, producing some of the most stunning visual scenes I have ever seen in the cinema.
A race against the clock ensues to find out Carl’s victim before she drowns, leaving Catherine and Peter to puzzle out subtle cues from Carl’s deranged mind.
Many reviews have harshly critised the plot and casting, calling the storyline dull, confusing or underdeveloped.
I do not agree. Of course, one always wishes for more fleshed out characters and exciting plots. The film focus a great deal on the visuals, and I found that focus totally adequate.
After all, this isn’t supposed to be the typical crime thriller, where we get a frantic mouse and cat chase till the end, or a murder mystery, where the focus is usually on the investigation of the criminal act.
Rather, the novelty of The Cell lies on its focus to portray the mind of a deeply disturbed man, and it does so excellently.
Obviously, a focus on the visuals comes at the cost of a simpler storyline. However, I do not agree that the story is as shallow as most critics have stressed. In fact, some parts of the story line bring up very interesting moral points.
For example, there is a scene when Peter tells Catherine of a case he worked on as a prosecutor, where a man called Charles Gish had molested and killed a little girl. He wasn’t charged with murder because the court ruled that Gish was insane when he killed the girl, and that a life of sexual abuse drove him to do those things. Then Peter gives a sneering smile as he believes that a child can experience much worse abuse than what Charles Gish went through and still turn out to be someone who would never hurt another person.
Peter’s point is at the core of an extremely controversial and debated ethical problem in criminal psychology and neuroscience: to what extent is a psychopath responsible for his actions?
This is a profound question. Of course, a lengthy discussion on the moral culpability of psychopaths was way out of the scope of the film. Nevertheless, I appreciated the brief inclusion.
Acting was generally ok, not bad, not great. Vicent D’Onofrio, however, was truly awesome (is there a role the fellow cannot play?!?).
The bonus material in that came with the DVD version of the film really puts into perspective the amount of effort the production team placed on make-up, costumes and CGI, and that effort really shows.
The soundtrack was also very interesting, and I really got disturbing vibes with some of the tunes; it reminded me a bit of some of the soundtrack Alejandro Jodorowsky would use. For example, the beginning of the film starts with a cacophony of trumpets, drums, and other instruments, that almost sound like they are playing in a disorderly way – which is a great way to represent a broken mind.
Ever since I watched the film some 15 years ago, some of the scenes from The Cell remain very vividly in my mind.
Of all the negative reviews I have read, I could not endorse any of them. Of course, one shouldn’t expect a typical crime thriller, a genre which themes are becoming hackneyed and overused anyway, in my opinion.
The Cell is surely different, and I welcomed that difference. It is meant to be a film with a focus on the inner workings of the mind of a psychologically disturbed man.
With stunning visuals, awesome soundtrack, great make-up and costumes, class acting from D’Onofrio, and a reasonably engaging story, The Cell remains, in my opinion, a success.
Here in mindlybiz, The Cell gets a rating of 3.5.
The story line by itself isn’t hard to grasp (really, they just need to find Carl’s victim before she drowns).
However, you should expect some pretty weird and disturbing scenes, as a great portion of the film deals with the contents of Carl’s psychotic mind.
For that reason, The Cell gets a bizarrometer score of 2.5.
As we will shortly see, there is abundant evidence from psychological studies that suggests that child maltreatment is a good predictor for the development of psychopathic traits, such as violent behaviour, lack of empathy and delinquency.
In the movie “The Cell”, serial killer Carl not only had suffered from maternal neglect, but had also been at the mercy of a ruthless and sadistic father.
Because his father physically and emotionally abused Carl as a child, instilling fear into him, Carl learnt to fear the very same person that should be offering support (a secure base).
Indeed, the lack of an appropriate emotional response from his father meant that Carl never really acquired the ability to put himself in other people’s shoes. As Carl lacks empathy, the killings he perpetuates are always done with emotional detachment.
Carl suffers from a rare type of schizophrenia due to the presence of a virus that activated upon the traumatic baptism experience. As a result of this ailment, Carl has become increasingly psychotic, eventually engaging in the serial killings in his adulthood.
Now, the emergence of schizophrenia together with the maltreatment he experienced as a child was a disastrous partnership. Influenced by the misogynistic views of his father and anger towards his mother for having left him alone with his abusive father, Carl internalised the idea that all women are “whores”.
So, just as he was taught that baptism functions to cleanse oneself from sin, Carl believes his killing ritual to be his way of “purifying” women.
Carl’s ritual consists of drowning his victims, which is ironic since during Carl’s baptism his father almost drowned him.
So Carl’s ritual uses the same very tools that his aggressor (his father) had also used. At a certain point in the film, Carl admits his father was more powerful than him, evincing a typical case of “identification with the aggressor” (in which someone goes from submissive to domineering).
Despite this hatred towards women, there are subtle cues in the film to suggest that Carl may be also trying to fill up the hole left by his absent mother.
For example, keeping his victims around in personalised cubicles (as Catherine witnessed when inside Carl’s mind) and the way Young Carl seems to yearn Catherine’s protection seem to be indicators that Carl may be searching for maternal affection.
OK. So let’s first review a few theories on attachment that might be helpful in a deeper analysis of this film.
Very solid analysis!! I’m a clinical mental health therapist and I was looking for a good clinical breakdown of this movie. This one did not disappoint. Your analysis was thorough and spot on. ❤
Hi Aliya,
Thank you very much for your comment!
Given that you are a mental health therapist, I would be very curious to hear your opinion on how clinical practitioners would even approach a case like that of Carl Stargher (provided he sought help in the first place, of course)? His case seems so extreme that I wonder how current therapies would be prepared to dealing with such cases. Any thoughts?