Medo Magdy This is a great movie mainly for two reasons: 1. The script is not a typical Hollywood story line. 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.

hoxjennifer Cell 211 (Celda 211 - Spanish title) is probably one of the most intense films that I have seen in a long time. It's a prison as well as as a psychological drama. It's angry, emotional, with a lot of Spanish wearing (I can't count how many times "Puta" is used in one context or another in this film) and save for a few flashbacks, there are hardly any happy moments in this film. The opening scene starts with the former inmate of Cell 211 slitting his wrists. We later fight out that he committed suicide due to the poor medical treatment he received for his brain tumour. We are then introduced to Juan Oliver, a young, handsome new prison guard who, keen to impress his new employers, arrives 1 day early to his new job. He is soon caught up in a prison riot, and pretends to be an inmate in order to survive. (Conveniently, at this prison, there are no uniforms, so that's how he manages to get away with it). From then on, we are exposed to the brutalities of the social order at the Zamora prison, both on the parts of the inmates and the guards. Intense, emotional and depressing. At times, also deeply disturbing. But with its political commentary back-drop, it makes you think about the prison systems, about the judgments society places on criminals and whether we are any better by treating them poorly. One of the best foreign films I've seen thus far, although certainly not the happiest.

kynick2 I have to admit that I am an American that loves films and increasingly the best females I've seen over the last decade or so have mostly been NON-American films. This film was great in so many ways. It was captivating from the opening scene and gave me a ride on the emotional train. I had hoped for a different ending for the protagonist...down to the last few minutes but it was not to be and the reveal in the cell (what he wrote on the wall) revealed so much. This was a really good film with more than it's share of powerful moments. There were also some important political leanings in the film that I'd imagine speaks to the heart of prison conditions all over the world. Sadness, hope, despair, moments of joy and bliss, this movie had everything you could ask for. Do yourself a favor and watch it.

Hasan Bilal Cell 211 is a brilliant drama thriller that centers on rebellion and riot against the status quo. The movie quickly develops the characters with flashbacks and side stories and sets the premise and circumstances early on in the movie. The one thing that comes to mind while watching the movie is Murphy's Law; if something can go wrong, it will.Cell 211 is about two men, both of them in stark contrast with each other: one has everything to live for while the other has nothing to lose. It's a story of how a person falls victim to circumstance and ironically, ambition. The plot is set in a prison where the protagonist- a newly recruited guard- is caught in between a staged riot and is forced to pose as an inmate. Amidst the ulterior motives of the riot and the threat of a mole within the prison inmate foiling the riot attempt, the movie strikes a tense balance between control and chaos, where the protagonist attempts to maintain his impersonation in face of certain death.The movie is written spectacularly and portrays feelings of both betrayal and loyalty, and depicts how people show their true colors in face of changing circumstances to protect their own motives. The movie is a gradual portrayal of a man whose life changes in a day while inadvertently he himself changes with it. Cell 211 is an admirable movie which pulls viewers in quickly and keeps them on the edge of their seat, rooting for the main characters. A must see foreign film.