The story of two men on different sides of a prison riot -- the inmate leading the rebellion and the young guard trapped in the revolt, who poses as a prisoner in a desperate attempt to survive the ordeal.
Two-thirds of a sensational film is still a considerable result.
Tough as nails and cunning as a career criminal, Cell 211 is a thriller that gets both brain and nerves whirring. See it before Hollywood’s Paul Haggis remake.
Any dips into melodrama are levelled out by its unpredictability, sympathies shifting multiple times in a kaleidoscope of greys that refuses to settle into blacks and whites.
An outstanding thriller, with enough political and character strokes to lift it out of the straight genre category — but rough and tough enough to stand alongside any given Hollywood hardman buddy vehicle. Tosar’s Malamadre is indeed the baddest mother seen in any film this year.
Winner of eight Goyas in Spain, Cell 211 shows the prison drama is alive and thriving behind European bars. No canaries, no boiled-egg eating feats, no combustible mix of religion and race, no Rita Hayworth obsessions required – just stripped back, raw drama and plenty of it. Get your porridge here.
Rigged with contrivance.
Ridiculous last half-hour spoils what could have been a stunning thriller.
The twisty plot soon gets knotted, but in the process shows a deeply broken system born of violence and corruption.
Has a tense first hour but gets a bit scrappy and loses its footing towards the end.
Tosar is an actor who deserves a breakthrough to a larger audience – who knows if he might not follow Javier Bardem into international stardom – and for sheer storytelling pizazz, Cell 211 delivers.
It is superbly acted, by Tosar in particular. Nobody will be surprised to learn that a US remake is in the pipeline. Make sure you see this one first.
Highly inventive and suspenseful.
Brutal but captivating.
It's confident, ingenious stuff – and streets ahead of anything Britain's genre film-makers seem able to produce.
Cell 211 can at times feel like a long stretch in the Scrubs. But it's directed with ferocious energy by Monzon, the rhythms of ultra-violence and tense negotiation among the men become hypnotic, and the twists and turns of the plot (script by Jorge Guerricaechevarria) keep you on the edge of your seat throughout.
Excellent.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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