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Cell

Play trailer 2:30 Poster for Cell R Released Jul 8, 2016 1h 38m Horror Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
11% Tomatometer 56 Reviews 17% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
A graphic novelist (John Cusack) begins a desperate search for his estranged wife (Clark Sarullo) and son (Ethan Andrew Casto) after a mysterious cellphone signal transforms New Englanders into savage killers.
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Cell

Cell

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Critics Consensus

Shoddily crafted and devoid of suspense, Cell squanders a capable cast and Stephen King's once-prescient source material on a bland rehash of zombie cliches.

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Critics Reviews

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Steve Greene IndieWire This is the undead equivalent of fast food. Some might find comfort in all these known quantities. Those looking for anything of substance would do better to wait for an upgrade. Rated: C- Jan 1, 2017 Full Review Kevin Maher The Times (UK) A deeply silly horror movie. Rated: 1/5 Oct 10, 2016 Full Review Wendy Ide Observer (UK) The slapdash quality to the plotting is matched by the inept film-making - the dialogue is frequently inaudible, the night scenes murkily lit. Rated: 2/5 Aug 28, 2016 Full Review Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review The film's lifelessness and sloppiness represent an all-time-low for King adaptations, which is saying something. Rated: 0.5/4 Apr 11, 2022 Full Review Victoria Luxford City AM Cheap production values underline the suspicion that this started out as an earnest attempt to adapt the book, and devolved into a mediocre zombie film in a world overrun with mediocre zombie films. Rated: 1/5 Feb 18, 2022 Full Review Jason Adams My New Plaid Pants It feels like they had one day too few too shoot it, one dollar too little, one hot cappuccino two degrees too cold delivered to John Cusack's trailer just a minute too late to put him in the right mood on the first day of shooting Jul 6, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Hughe J Cell had a limited theatrical release but was also released on streaming in 2016. It somehow stars John Cusack and Samuel Jackson in what may be the worst Stephen King movie adaption ever. The movie is based on the 2006 novel where a mysterious pulse is sent across all cell phones that turns anyone that hears it into a vicious mindless killer. As someone who at the time was reading every King novel I thought Cell was average at best. I watched this on streaming and laughed all the way through it. The acting was terrible, the special effects were worse, but the plot stayed true to the book for the most part so there's that. This is just hysterically bad and should never be watched by anyone, ever. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 07/16/25 Full Review Dacat C The start was decent, but the rest of the movie was horrible. The ending was the worst I ever seen recently, not even giving the viewers the satisfaction of a realistic actions and decisions. Like all the other critics, no suspense or even good horror. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 07/13/25 Full Review Shawn R Spare yourself the headache Rated 1 out of 5 stars 03/14/25 Full Review Kaspian O I was excited to find this movie it looked promising but man was i wrong Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/19/25 Full Review Chris S If not for John and Sam wouldn't have given it a moment of time. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/12/25 Full Review Andi R This is a good “ junk food “ movie. John and Samuel are a good team and interesting if anything to watch. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/09/25 Full Review Read all reviews
Cell

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis A graphic novelist (John Cusack) begins a desperate search for his estranged wife (Clark Sarullo) and son (Ethan Andrew Casto) after a mysterious cellphone signal transforms New Englanders into savage killers.
Director
Tod Williams
Producer
Richard Saperstein, Michael Benaroya, Brian Witten, Shara Kay
Screenwriter
Stephen King, Adam Alleca
Distributor
Saban Films
Production Co
Benaroya Pictures, Genre Company
Rating
R (Disturbing Violent Content|Brief Sexuality|Language|Terror)
Genre
Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 8, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 29, 2016
Runtime
1h 38m
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