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 surv... Read allThe 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.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.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Awards
- 44 wins & 28 nominations total
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
Guerricaechevarria does it again, writing a brutal story of loyalty, friendship and guts.
The acting is great, well directed and well filmed. The characters are extremely real and believable.
In the end, everyone shows it's real face. Ethics and Character are put in a first plane, leaving uniforms, social class, education and every possible label behind. For some, it's every man for itself, and for others, it's justice or death.
This movie is extremely violent but not at a physical level, and delivers pure emotions throughout it's whole plot. It'll keep you at the edge of your seat for two hours, and leave you thinking about it for days.
The acting is great, well directed and well filmed. The characters are extremely real and believable.
In the end, everyone shows it's real face. Ethics and Character are put in a first plane, leaving uniforms, social class, education and every possible label behind. For some, it's every man for itself, and for others, it's justice or death.
This movie is extremely violent but not at a physical level, and delivers pure emotions throughout it's whole plot. It'll keep you at the edge of your seat for two hours, and leave you thinking about it for days.
A Spanish thriller based on the eponymous novel by Francisco Pérez Gandul.
Cell 211 tells the story of a riot inside a dangerous ward, just when a new prison officer is having his introductory visit to the same. By chance, he sees himself locked in with the rioters and, to survive, he assumes, a new identity as a prisoner.
Although the story is not especially original, the characters and the script are very good, the situation is completely believable within the Spanish social and jail context, and the end is not as predictable as you might expect. Moreover, the movie is unpretentious and fresh, which makes it even more enjoyable.
The acting is very good by all the cast, but especially by Luis Tosar as Malamadre, by Alberto Ammann as Juan Oliveras, and Antonio Resines as Prison officer Utrilla.
A very entertaining Spanish thriller with very good acting, that won 8 Goyas (Spanish Oscars) in 2009.
Cell 211 tells the story of a riot inside a dangerous ward, just when a new prison officer is having his introductory visit to the same. By chance, he sees himself locked in with the rioters and, to survive, he assumes, a new identity as a prisoner.
Although the story is not especially original, the characters and the script are very good, the situation is completely believable within the Spanish social and jail context, and the end is not as predictable as you might expect. Moreover, the movie is unpretentious and fresh, which makes it even more enjoyable.
The acting is very good by all the cast, but especially by Luis Tosar as Malamadre, by Alberto Ammann as Juan Oliveras, and Antonio Resines as Prison officer Utrilla.
A very entertaining Spanish thriller with very good acting, that won 8 Goyas (Spanish Oscars) in 2009.
This is a great movie mainly for two reasons:
1. The script is not a typical Hollywood storyline. It's very realistic and powerful.
2. The performances of all actors are superb. In contrast to Hollywood movies, the actors in this movie are not models who decided to move to the film business but real actors.
Fortunately, there are still cinema people who do not see movies as commercial products for sale with the purpose of bringing enormous profit to the producers but rather works of art. There is still hope for cinema.
1. The script is not a typical Hollywood storyline. It's very realistic and powerful.
2. The performances of all actors are superb. In contrast to Hollywood movies, the actors in this movie are not models who decided to move to the film business but real actors.
Fortunately, there are still cinema people who do not see movies as commercial products for sale with the purpose of bringing enormous profit to the producers but rather works of art. There is still hope for cinema.
The family man Juan Oliver (Alberto Ammann) leaves his beloved pregnant wife Elena (Marta Etura) at home to visit the prison where he will start working on the next day as prison guard to make a good impression. During his tour with the guards Armando Nieto (Fernando Soto) and his partner, a stone falls on his head and he faints. The two guards carry him to the empty cell 211, but out of the blue, there is a riot led by the dangerous Malamadre (Luis Tosar) and Juan is left behind by the two guards. When Juan awakes, he pretends to be a prisoner to survive and is forced to meet Malamadre. The leader Malamadre uses three political inmates from ETA as hostages to negotiate with the authorities and Juan helps him to write the terms of the negotiation. Meanwhile Elena finds that there is a rebellion in the prison and heads to the spot trying to get information about Juan. When the situation outside the prison is out of control, the SWAT and violent chief of the guards José Utrilla (Antonio Resines) beat the crowd and Elena is wounded by him. When Juan discovers what had happened with his wife, he becomes closer to Malamadre and changes his behavior taking the side of the inmates.
Movies about prison are usually engaging, but "Celda 211" is spectacular and one of the best films about prison. The dramatic screenplay is realistic, with a story of friendship and pain using the background of the environment of a prison and ETA in Spain, and the tight direction is supported by top-notch performances. The unknown actress Marta Etura is so gorgeous and sweet that increases the impact of her incident. My vote is eight.
Title (Brazil): "Cela 211" ("Cell 211")
Movies about prison are usually engaging, but "Celda 211" is spectacular and one of the best films about prison. The dramatic screenplay is realistic, with a story of friendship and pain using the background of the environment of a prison and ETA in Spain, and the tight direction is supported by top-notch performances. The unknown actress Marta Etura is so gorgeous and sweet that increases the impact of her incident. My vote is eight.
Title (Brazil): "Cela 211" ("Cell 211")
Good movie, well worth seeing.
Great idea for a movie, apparently the Yanks are going to remake it.
I think that will be good too, if they polish this movie up well, it will be even better.
New scariest movie prison dude ever in the halfwit enforcer.
Fair bit of action, pretty tense at times, even the wife or girlfriend will enjoy it as it's very easy to follow, even with the subtitles.
Not for kids, but there is nothing in here teenagers haven't seen before.
Got to fill in some more lines ffs. Is that enough?
Great idea for a movie, apparently the Yanks are going to remake it.
I think that will be good too, if they polish this movie up well, it will be even better.
New scariest movie prison dude ever in the halfwit enforcer.
Fair bit of action, pretty tense at times, even the wife or girlfriend will enjoy it as it's very easy to follow, even with the subtitles.
Not for kids, but there is nothing in here teenagers haven't seen before.
Got to fill in some more lines ffs. Is that enough?
Did you know
- TriviaThe movie is dedicated to Luis Ángel Puente, a fireman of the city of Zamora (Spain) where the film is located. He participated in the film and died rescuing two boys in the Duero river shortly after.
- GoofsWhen the minister is heading to the prison, the car he is driven in is shown as an Audi A6 (1997) from the front, when arriving to the prison the car is shown from behind, but this is an Audi A8 (2005) model.
- Quotes
Malamadre: So the guards beat you up your first day. You must have pissed them off.
Juan Oliver: I do my best.
- ConnectionsFeatured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Spanish Language Movies (2016)
- How long is Cell 211?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- €3,500,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $19,305,314
- Runtime1 hour 53 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content