The Cell poster

The Cell (2000)

Film · 1h 47m · Rated R

Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller

A psychotherapist enters the surreal, chilling mind of a comatose serial killer to save his last victim.

Suspenseful. A late-night trip at a measured pace. Emotionally it is heavy.

Not on a US subscription service as of Oct 29, 2026.

The Cell parents guide

Extreme gore, which is more than most R titles carry. Beyond that, real scares and a jolt or two.

Scare
Properly scary
Frightening, not just tense.
Jump scares
A couple
One or two sudden jolts.
Gore
Extreme gore
Our top level for gore.
Violence
Strong violence
Violence is frequent or intense.
Sex and nudity
Moderate
Moderate means a sex scene or nudity on screen, even brief, or sexual violence that is described or implied but never shown.
Language
Moderate
Some strong profanity, a few f-words.

How we rate: an AI reads what is known about each title and tags it 0 to 3; we check the tags against a hand-rated set and correct them by hand when readers tell us. Estimates, not a scene-by-scene review. Spot a mistake? Tell us.

Three questions

Is The Cell scary?
Yes, properly. The Cell is the real thing without being an endurance test.
How gory is The Cell?
Extreme gore and strong violence. If graphic gore is a dealbreaker, skip it.
What is The Cell rated, and is it OK for kids?
No. It is rated R, with real scares, moderate sex and nudity, and strong violence.

What is The Cell about?

A psychotherapist journeys inside a comatose serial killer in the hopes of saving his latest victim.

Does it have a happy ending? (spoiler-safe)

It leaves the ending open to interpretation.

Cast and crew

Directed byTarsem Singh
StarringJennifer Lopez, Vince Vaughn, Vincent D'Onofrio, Catherine Sutherland, James Gammon, Colton James

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Uses the TMDB API; not endorsed or certified by TMDB. Intensity, content, tone and pace tags are CouchRot's own.