Tarsem’s “The Cell” remains one of the most ambitious artistically films in the history of cinema. Its hard R-rated story enables Tarsem with a music video background to bring together several artistic mediums to visualise a serial killer’s mind - pictures of extraordinary beauty combined with pure nightmare visuals to create something truly outstanding. Installation artists like Damien Hirst (e.g., "Some Comfort Gained from the Acceptance of the Inherent Lies in Everything") were used to bring forward the disturbing details of Vincent d’Onofrio’s antagonist’s fragmented psyche while the cold, desolate and arsenic dressed style of Swiss surrealist H.R Giger (e.g., "Schacht"), Norwegian painter Odd Nerdrum (e.g., “Dawn”) and the Brothers Quay’s dehumanizing outputs were used for the environments where King Stargher roams free, a monster wearing impeccable clothing that linger in memory long after the credits roll due to the genius that is Japanese designer Eiko Ishioka (“Bram Stroker’s Dracula” (1992)).

The style in the sequences set deep inside the villain’s subconscious was inspired by the music videos of Mark Romanek (e.g., "Closer", "The Perfect Drug", "Bedtime Story") fused with the work of Floria Sigismondi who directed many Marilyn Manson videoclips and Tarsem’s own work in "Losing My Religion", there is extraordinary decadence mixed with magnetic beauty - it’s appalling and yet captivating at the same time. Fans of contemporary art will have a ball with “The Cell” uncovering hidden meanings behind each frame.