Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Stephan Hammond It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Candida It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

CinemaClown Powerful, provocative & downright intense from the first frame to the last, Cell 211 (also known as Celda 211) is a viciously crafted, grippingly told & strongly performed prison film about loyalty, respect & codes that dictates the life of inmates behind bars and also works as an interesting meditation on corruption both inside & outside the prison cell.The story of Cell 211 follows a newly appointed prison guard who, on his tour, is left behind in an empty cell by other officers when a prison riot breaks out. Aware of his predicament & the brutal environment he's in, he pretends to be one of them in order to survive the ordeal and gets acquainted with the inmate leading the rebellion, who takes him under his wing.Co-written & directed by Daniel Monzón, Cell 211 is crafted with nothing held back as the main plot surfaces minutes into the story and from there on, the tension soars through the roof as the film becomes increasingly violent but at no point does it put its characters aside to revel in prison brutality for the two leading characters remain its main focus from start to finish.The prison environment is brilliantly created and the chaos & cruelty that explodes on the screen is effectively captured through the dynamic but expertly controlled camera-work. Its 113 minutes of runtime simply flies by, thanks to its cut-throat editing. And what adds even more fuel to its aggressive tone is the fierce performances put in by its two leads plus the contribution by its supporting cast is no slouch either.On an overall scale, Cell 211 is a fabulous piece of potent filmmaking that takes a no-holds- barred approach with its content and thanks to its ferocious direction, razor-sharp script & stellar input from its cast, delivers an experience that's thrilling, thought-provoking & wholly satisfying. One of the best films of its year, one of the finest examples of its genre, and one amongst the most underrated works of 21st century cinema, Cell 211 is worthy of your time & money. Go see it.

kosmasp Accidental undercover could be another title of this. It is made clear early on, who's who and this is a good thing for the movie. Bringing the outside "world" into the prison is great. And it also is a good thing that this is not as clichéd as a US Remake probably will be. The characters are very well drawn and you get shades of gray thrown into the mix here too.While it mostly plays inside the walls, we also get glimpses into the outside world, which isn't necessarily better than the guys who are inside the walls. A movie that does criticize as much as it does entertain and is good with both those things.

kkattastic I can't believe that so few people have mentioned the links of this plot with the real life chaos and savagery that occurred back in 1971 in Attica.Maybe it has just been too long,but you only have to click through you tube to find actual footage recorded,especially that of the government forces storming the prison,full of a few extremists but largely hungry,tired and scared prisoners.They shot tear gas into the yard and the term 'spray and pray' comes to mind.The prisoners had a few home made shanks;any weaponry they had accrued from officers were empty and used only as a 'blunt instrument' with which to bludgeon other prisoners.There was clearly very little resistance;certainly not ample to warrant the warfare that was inflicted upon them that day,killing tens of largely innocent men and several officers as there was no way that anyone could have seen anything amidst the foggy haze of tear gas.If you watch 'Cell 211' ,it is clear to see that even the lay out of the prison is similar.I am no expert but this is an opportunity for everyone to see the similarities and the men who fell at Attica should be remembered and 'honoured' to a degree.Of course,initially there were ridiculous demands but towards the end of the stand off,it should be noted that the men inside were asking mostly for simple human rights to be respected and to not be humiliated and undermined at every opportunity.I also think that the events at Attica made a significant difference in how modern prisons are run,in terms of allowing those simple human rights to be respected whilst also increasing safety measures for correctional officers. Disregarding this obvious homage,it is a wildly fantastic film.The kind of film that will remain timeless and set standards for time to come.Incredible acting,producing and editing.I love this film-just love it.

bram van ham Cell 211 is a movie about a soon to be prison guard named Juan who becomes trapped inside a prison when a riot breaks out. He lies about his real identity and soon becomes best friends with the prisons tough guy. The movie is full with clichés and is often too far fetched. Juan seems to know everything and says all the right things at the right time, which becomes really annoying at one point. His girlfriend is pregnant (extra drama), and her parts in the movie are just horrible. Why the F does a pregnant girl attend a demonstration? And of course she gets hit, and of course it's one of the guards that beats her and of course this gets taped with his face clearly shown, and of course one of the prisoners gets this video on a mobile phone and shows this to Juan. I mean jeez... I could go on, there are many other situation which are so bad, so I was really surprised to see that this movie got a 7,6 rating (at the time of writing this). Oke it's not all bad, Juan's acting was pretty good and some parts were really suspenseful. I liked the first part were it was dubious if the prisoners would believe Juan's story - which was a turning point in the movie.Although I like prison movies, this is a very forgettable one and I would not recommend it to my friends. Too bad, I went in with high expectations (maybe this was the problem).