Cell 211 is a gripping and surprising Spanish film about a prison riot. Juan Oliver (Ammann) arrives 1 day early to his new post as a prison guard, only to be knocked unconscious during an accident right before a prison riot breaks out. He regains consciousness just in time to figure out what's going on and pretends to be a new prisoner. The leader of the riot, Malamadre (Tosar), takes him under his wing. Juan Oliver must pretend to help Malamadre while simultaneously attempting to get out alive. This is only the beginning of the movie, but I'll leave the rest for you to discover on your own, because how the movie reveals itself is one of the movie's very best treasures.
I don't want to ruin it, but I feel I should mention that this movie does not have a Hollywood ending. In fact, none of the twists and turns are very Hollywood. Many reviews have called the movie completely unpredictable, but to me it feels more like a movie you do not anticipate. It propels you along at such a pace that you do not have time to think about what is to come, you can only attempt to catch your breath and digest all that has already passed.
The writing in this film is superb. It is not simply the plot, which is very good, but the characters. I have often said that people never transform over the course of a movie; instead you see into their hearts and souls more and more deeply as events pass. And you see all the nuance and subtlety that you didn't see before, so they appear to transform before your eyes into complex, fleshed-out humans. That is precisely what goes on here: Juan Oliver is the same person he was at the beginning of this movie--although we would all like to think a transformation takes place--which makes this movie all the more compelling. Absolutely spellbinding acting and crisp cinematography rounds out this fantastic film. Highly recommended.
IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1242422/