[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Cell_211_4232.jpg]]

''Cell 211'' is a 2009 Spanish film directed by Daniel Monzon. The protagonist, Juan Oliver (Alberto Ammann), is a young man HappilyMarried to the beautiful Elena (Marta Etura), who is 6-months pregnant with their first child, and this is the first day in his new job. All well and right, if that job wasn't as a prison guard and there was a riot in the High Security zone led by the scary convict Malamadre (Luis Tosar) that very same day. Now alone and trapped inside [[TitleDrop Cell 211]], Juan must disguise himself and pretend to be another inmate in order to guarantee his own safety, all while trying to draw a plan to get him out of there.

The problem is that [[GoneHorriblyRight he does it so well]], however, that soon he becomes something of a second in command to Malamadre. And everything gets worse from there. Very, very, ''very'' worse.

Though taking place in a prison, the movie does not follow most of the tropes associated with the prison genre. It won 22 awards, including the MediaNotes/GoyaAward for Best Spanish Film.

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!! This film provides examples of:
* TheAlcatraz: The GEO team barricades the prison, preventing anyone from escaping.
%% * AntiHero: Malamadre.
* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: Carlos Bardem ([[PoorMansSubstitute brother to most famous Javier]]) seems to be aiming for a "generic Latin American" accent more than for a Colombian one.
%% * BadCopIncompetentCop: Oh, boy.
%%* BaldOfEvil: Malamadre, depending of your pick.
* BecomingTheMask: Juan pretends to be an unrepent convict of murder ("I killed him and I would do it again") [[spoiler: and becomes so when he kills Urrutia]].
%% * BlackAndGrayMorality: The convicts are not the worst people. Not at by a long shot.
%% * BreakTheCutie: Juan [[spoiler: and later, Elena. [[KilledOffForReal To the very worst]].]]
%%* BungledSuicide
%% * TheCartel: Apache and the other Colombians belonged to one.
%% * DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler: Juan, when he learns that Elena is dead.]]
%% * DirtyCoward: Urrutia.
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Juan, his wife and their unborn child die.]]
%% * TheDragon: Tachuela, for Malamadre. Later, Juan acquires this status too.
* DrivenToSuicide: The spark of the revolt is the suicide of the previous occupier of Cell 211, "El Morao", who killed himself after the prison refused to treat him of a brain tumor. [[spoiler: Juan is driven later as well, but fails to hang himself with a belt]].
%% * FallenHero
* FirstDayFromHell: Juan's first day as a prison guard involves an out-of-control inmate riot.
%% * FlashBack: The scenes involving Juan and Elena.
%% * FlashForward: The scenes dealing with the later investigation about the mutiny events.
* TheFilmOfTheBook: Based on a novel written by Francisco Pérez Gandul.
* ImprovisedWeapon: The prisoners manage to built knives and [[ScaramangaSpecial even guns]] out of water pipes.
%% * IronicEcho: "You do what you can."
* KickTheDog: "Putavieja" has three. First he tortures an inmate in another alley to know how the riot started. [[spoiler: Then he [[MoralEventHorizon kills Juan's pregnant wife]]. And then he reveals Juan's identity to the other prisoners in order to save his sorry ass, but [[LaserGuidedKarma it doesn't work]].]]
%% * KnightTemplar: Utrilla.
* NobleDemon: Played to the extreme by Malamadre, a murderer in a high security cell, who ends being the most caring character.
* NoNameGiven: Excluding the ETA members, every convict is either unnamed or known by a nickname like Malamadre ("Badmother"), Apache or El Morao ("The Purple One").
* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Alberto Amman's sounds properly Spaniard but his native Argentinian accent comes out in a couple of occassions when his character is specially distressed. This is justified because the character is from Argentina (as briefly seen in a dossier) but lives in Spain and eventually adquired the Spanish nationality -required to be a civil servant- so his actual speech could have evolved with the years.
* PlayingBothSides: Juan and Apache, though obviously for different reasons.
%%* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: [[spoiler: By the end of the film.]]
%% * RabidCop: Urrutia.
%% * TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized.
%%* SlashedThroat: [[spoiler: Utrilla]]
%% * TheStoolPigeon: Apache. Also TheMole.
%% * TragicMistake: Juan wasn't even supposed to be there. He joined a day earlier, just to make a better impresion.
%% * TheUnfettered
* WesternTerrorists: Three ETA members are taken hostage by the other prisoners.
%%* WhiteShirtOfDeath: [[spoiler: After Juan kills Utrilla.]]
* WorthyOpponent [[spoiler: Malamadre shares moments of genuine comradeship and ends up giving a lot of credit to Juan when he discovers the ruse]]
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