Genre: Action, Comedy, Family Drama, Sci-Fi

Director: Hideki Takeuchi

Starring: Mei Nagano, Takeru Satoh

Rating: Rating: 4/5

Hideki Takeuchi’s live-action adaptation of Cells at Work! isn’t just a film—it’s a joyful, genre-blending celebration of life, health, and humanity, all set within the microscopic universe of a teenage girl. In the Urushizaki household, high schooler Niko dutifully cares for her widowed father, balancing her own life with his well-being. But beneath her healthy routines, her immune system is waging an epic war against a torrent of invading pathogens. With Red and White Blood Cells working overtime, Niko’s survival—and her shot at teenage romance—rests on their shoulders.

In this inventive blend of biology and storytelling, Cells at Work! spins a wildly entertaining narrative that combines elements of action, family drama, and rom-com. The film’s core is Niko’s story, a heartfelt journey of caregiving, self-discovery, and young love, framed by an intense battle happening within her body. The inner world is vivid and action-packed, reminiscent of Inside Out with a Japanese twist, where every cell plays a role, and every pathogen is a villain in Niko’s quest to stay healthy for her dad and her date.

Mei Nagano, as a sprightly Red Blood Cell, exudes boundless energy and enthusiasm, perfectly capturing the eager determination of a novice at work. Takeru Satoh, known for his role in Rurouni Kenshin, takes on the role of a stoic White Blood Cell, providing a protective and understated foil to Nagano’s character. Together, they form an unexpectedly endearing duo, navigating the perils inside Niko with both humor and heart. Their chemistry is infectious, adding warmth and fun to the film’s high-stakes battles.

Director Hideki Takeuchi is known for bringing imaginative worlds to life, and he does just that with Cells at Work! By merging the high-concept world of anime with live-action, Takeuchi crafts a visually vibrant spectacle where the bloodstream becomes a battlefield. Each cell’s costume is designed with intricate detail, adding a touch of lavish cosplay that brings humor and authenticity to the film’s zany setting. Action scenes are thrilling and gravity-defying, making the body’s defense mechanisms feel like epic duels, while the humor—sometimes raunchy, often slapstick—keeps the tone refreshingly lighthearted.

Beyond the scientific antics, Cells at Work! is a tribute to the human body and the beauty of human connections. With scenes that celebrate caring for loved ones, cherishing youth, and the joys of teamwork, the film transcends its biological focus to speak to something universal. It’s impossible not to be moved by Niko’s relationship with her father, and by the dedication of her body’s “micro-heroes” who fight tirelessly to keep her healthy.

Cells at Work! is an absolute joy—a film that combines educational elements with heart, humor, and high-energy action. Hideki Takeuchi’s skill at blending genres is on full display, making it an unforgettable, entertaining ride that will leave audiences laughing, cheering, and maybe even wiping away a tear.

A vibrant, genre-bending journey through the human body, Cells at Work! is a spectacle for the senses and the soul. This lively adaptation is one that audiences of all ages can enjoy, learning a bit of biology along the way.

A woman who put her career on hold to become a first-time stay-at-home-Mom finds her smaller world taking an almost supernatural turn. 

This is an odd one ya’ll. The film is touted as a body-horror dark comedy but struggles to find a role, a category, a niche that it fits into neatly and properly that can tell a potential viewer why they want to watch this movie. This is actually perfect for Nightbitch anyway, for our nameless protagonist Mother is also struggling with literally everything – being a first-time mother to a rambunctious baby boy, contending with an also-nameless husband (Scoot McNairy) whose job keeps him away more than half the time, regretting the fact that she gave up a career as an artist for motherhood, oh and also, noticing strange changes happening to her body. Make sure your diaper bag is stocked and let’s dive into this! 

So our new Mom (Amy Adams) just hates the stuff that other moms seem to find enjoyable, most especially the story-and-singing time held at their local library, full of mostly other moms and their loud children, dutifully singing along mindlessly to that repetitive garbage that makes one want to rip their own ears off. Mom is stuck in the repeat of minutiae involved in caring for a baby, all alone too, and laments finding herself becoming more and more bestial and less and less super-mom who can do everything. At one point this thought of less-than-human starts becoming literal, as Mom starts experiencing things like a proto-tail and extra hair that’s damn too close to fur for comfort. But what can one do, other than endure and continue on? Our Mom decides to actually lean into the beast nature of things and see where it takes her! 

The nameless husband that Scoot McNairy plays, a man who is so milquetoast and bland and unhelpful that he might as well be a cardboard cutout, lends himself to a trend of similar characters McNairy has played elsewhere. We get the feeling that he is simply there to give Mom a target to lash out against, as she accuses him of helping her set aside her adult dreams of artistry in favor of family, even as he fires lamely back that that was what she told him she wanted. He fails to put up any struggle when Mom tells him she wants a separation, and we can almost see him shrink further in Mom’s eyes when that doesn’t happen, for her feral new nature is spoiling for a fight, or multiple fights. A good old-fashioned screaming and throwing things match could lead to some epic make-up sex, or at the very least actually clear the air between our nameless parents, but no. They argue they cry, they separate, and of course, Mom takes the baby, graciously allowing Dad to come to visit and take the baby for outings. But hope for reconciliation is pretty non-existent. 

Our Mom may have decided to lean into the strangeness of her bodily changes, her being chased around by follower canines that may or may not be the bestial natures of her fellow mothers, even the very basic nature of what it means to be a mother, but only up to a certain point. As much fun as it is to shed her human envelope and run in her fur at night might be, a tiny completely helpless human will still be waiting at home for her to come back to feed and take care of him. This crushing responsibility versus the very real freedom of being a beast is one of the many contradictions lacing the film, and perhaps the most prevalent, due to the simmering resentment Mom feels at being both freed and constrained in literally the same breath. 

There isn’t so much an end to the film, more like Mom finally resigns herself to be completely changed from who she was before she became ‘Mom’, but still grasping at some shred of self left that doesn’t necessarily stem entirely from her child. Entirely contradictory but in a sympathetic-to-motherhood kind of way, Nightbitch asks the audience to remember that while ‘Mom’ maybe her new all-encompassing title forever, she did and does still have a name, and dreams to realize, too. 

Based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Robert Harris – when the Pope passes on, the college of Cardinals from all over the world convene in Rome to elect the new Pontiff, as shocking revelations and disturbances from the candidates come to light. 

One wouldn’t think that a film about the election of a new Pope, even with star powers like Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini in the films roster, would be anywhere near as good as Conclave turns out to be. But the film is, truly, a marvel, a wonder, perhaps even an actual miracle of drama to behold. And so, let’s grab our rather dusty zuchetto (the skullcap worn by Cardinals) and dive into this! 

So, the Pope (Bruno Novelli) has left this earthly plane without naming a successor, and like any good leader of millions upon millions of the faithful, he kept many secrets. The Dean of the college of Cardinals, Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), is forced to hastily shove aside his genuine sorrow at the Pope’s passing and gird his vestments to prepare to deal with the influx of Cardinals coming to Rome for the election of a new Pope. Immersed in ancient traditions that date back centuries for how to deal with a deceased Pope and the ensuing election of the next, Lawrence nevertheless finds himself bemused at also being surrounded by modern security measures, as they prepare to lock down the whole place and all the people in it until the election is satisfied. 

Most of the Cardinals find themselves chagrined at the arrival of a fellow Cardinal they’ve never heard of before, a man who dared to bring the faith to dangerous places like Cabul, Archbishop Benitez (Carlos Diehz). And while Lawrence is unnerved too, he has far more on his plate to deal with. After an initial ballot to determine the front-runners for papal election, Lawrence begins researching into the backgrounds of the candidates with the most number of votes. Including, somehow, the unheard-of-before Benitez. 

First up is Tremblay (John Lithgow), growing more desperate to hide the fact that, just days before the Pope’s demise, he was sacked for “gross misconduct”. And while Lawrence is keen to find out why that came about, information on the other Cardinals is coming at him from all directions and so Tremblay has to be tabled for now. 

Next up is Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto), and this is a Cardinal of the old-fashioned hellfire and brimstone against the unbelievers variety. Tedesco is a man who, when confronted with violent protests going on just outside the college of Cardinals, shouts that, “We need a Pope who fights these animals!” Referring to other religions, especially the apparently hated by Tedesco faith of Islam, one can almost see Tedesco itching to speak the forbidden words, jihad or holy war. And we’ve had plenty of that in history already thank you. 

Lawrence’s good friend Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci) is a man beleaguered by the Pontiff election too, almost as much as Lawrence himself. Yet Bellini is a good man, a kind and understanding and willing-to-listen type of Cardinal, who also finds himself struggling with ancient traditions versus the need for modernity of faith here in 2024. Bellini finds himself reluctantly recruited to help Lawrence maintain his sanity, and secrecy as these horrific skeletons of other Cardinals come to light, even while being in the running for Pope himself. If for no other reason than to make sure these other candidates don’t get it. 

Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati) is a Cardinal absolutely desperate to win the election, as it would be an incredible coup to be the first Black man ever to be elected to what is arguably the highest office of faith in the known world. And while the man (gender bias for Pontiff is something they fixed back in the time of Pope Joan) elected for Pope is still a man with a man’s shortcomings, the man who is Pope really needs to have either as few skeletons in his past as possible, or find a better way to keep them secreted and hidden forever. So when a serving Nun drops a tray in shock at seeing Adeyemi and through his research Lawrence finds out exactly why that happened and the past events that led to it, his past sadly takes Adeyemi out of the running for Pope too. Adeyemi’s remorse at such news seems genuine, as he tearfully asks Lawrence to pray with him, but the Deans word on this matter is effectively law and so his “ruling” stands. And really, from the way Bellini described Adeyemi as a sidebar, we don’t really want Adeyemi to win anyway. 

Lawrence has realized a clear advantage he has after recruiting the disapproving Nun Sister Agnes (Isabella Rosellinni) for help in his searches into the many Cardinals pasts, and it’s pretty clear Sister Agnes enjoys getting all these men in their funny ancient cassocks and faith beanies to shut the heck up when there’s things they all really need to hear, and know. Like, the revelation that Tremblay’s gross misconduct involved simony, a giant no-no as far as the college of Cardinals, and perhaps especially the office of the Pope, is concerned. So Tremblay is now totally out of the running too. 

But that leaves whom? Bellini may be a good man and good Cardinal, but he’s too progressive in his thinking and ways to want to fight for an office that, while it may be full of power in theory, also comes with arguably the heaviest responsibility on the planet. To be the Voice of God elected on this earthly plane to lead millions upon millions of faithful Catholics on the right path would be daunting to me, too. Tedesco is somehow still in the running, but as he loudly demonstrates during one of the latter-stage ballot discussions turned arguments, he would be a Pope who wants to go back to the old days of smiting infidels (meaning effectively anyone not Catholic) and we clearly cannot have that happen. Lawrence is made to realize that, despite his reluctance, he himself may have to take the office of the Pontiff, if, again, for no other reason than to make sure none of these other men got it. And most of these Cardinals in their arguments seem to have completely forgotten the newcomer Benitez, until he makes a speech towards the end that shames every last zuchetto-wearing man in the room. 

The film is a bit of a slow burn in the beginning, yes, but things pick up rapidly as the former Pope’s body cools and the men scurrying frantically to replace him speed up their lies, tactics, and calculating moves, even against each-other. Powerhouse performances are drawn from every single last actor, most especially Ralph Fiennes as Lawrence and Isabella Rosellinni as Sister Agnes. There is a giant reveal at the end and the entire theater audience, myself included, gasped as one when it came out – that’s how you know, you’ve made an excellent film. Cast your vote at the end for who is truly deserving to be the new Pope, see Conclave in theaters now!