Cell 211

In addition to its effectiveness as a thriller, it is also a film showing a man in the agonizing process of changing his values. And it is a critique of a cruel penal system.

It is packed with Tarantino-style violence... but the plotting is so fine and the suspense so blinding and the character strokes so masterful I was totally gripped.

Spanish prison movie Cell 211 is a winner if you're a fan of the nail-biting real-time thriller, using deception, undercover work and con artistry to deliver violence and heart-pounding scenes.

A satisfyingly intense and suitably incendiary prison drama that keeps the viewer tightly handcuffed during its first hour before falling victim to the fraud of improbability.

From Spanish director Daniel Monzon, this is a white-hot prison drama with a Byzantine plot and enough gore to make Reservoir Dogs look like a petting zoo.

It's a cut above the usual penal picture, intelligent with sharply drawn, memorable characters, a storyline suffused with tension and unexpected turns, and a morass of moral quandaries that could lead the most innocent into irretrievable darkness.

Thankfully, this prison drama doesn't overstay its welcome.

The film surprises and engages us in unexpected ways, changing our perceptions of characters and the situation again and again, yet always in an emotionally prevailing way.

This is a (predictably) violent and dark entry into the prison drama genre, but I agree with the snarling and cruel Malamadre...

Director/co-writer Daniel Monzon does danger, and violence, with an almost delicate hand -- relying on tense realism and visceral fear rather than gratuitous gore.