Cell

Cell is a murder mystery - to about the same extent that Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex is a murder mystery. Lieutenant Rodriguez questions Dennis Kadman about his older brother Michael, who has OD’d on heroin in Dennis’ apartment. Dennis wants to know: who gave Michael the drugs? Michael was a cunning, manipulative addict. But he was placed in his brother’s care by the courts – and Dennis tried to keep him alive and drug-free. Through flashbacks, we see the fractious relationship between the brothers, and how they interacted with other “suspects,” including Edith, the Jamaican nurse who believed Michael should be allowed to choose to die; Julie, Dennis’ fiancée who hated what Michael was doing to Dennis and to their relationship; and Byron, Michael’s homeless friend with whom he had lived on the streets. Like Oedipus, while looking for the culprit, Dennis learns far too much about himself.