The Experiment
Release Date: August 12, 2010
Director: Paul Scheuring
Stars: Adrien Brody, Forest Whitaker, Cam Gigandet
Runtime: 96 min
It’s a decent film based on the Zimbardo experiment.
Twenty-six men are chosen to participate in a psychological prison experiment. Half of them are appointed the role of guard, and the other half the role of prisoner. Travis (Adrien Brody) is a Hindu activist, who is the voice of the prisoners. Barris (Forest Whitaker) is often a cowardly man, and when he is given power as a guard, he turns into a power hungry maniac; playing the role of the main guard.
Eventually, the whole experiment spirals out of control – as the prisoners just want to escape and the guards use force to try to contain them to their cells.
It’s a pretty interesting film, that analyzes the effects of roles that would psychologically affect a person. The whole film plays out in a pretty sweet fashion, the acting is good, the movie can be a little disturbing; but at times it is needed.
The historical accuracy is inaccurate in some aspects, as I think there were twenty-four prisoners in the actual experiment; and one of the playing-outs of the film didn’t actually occur in the real experiment.
Other stars of the film are Cam Gigandet, Ethan Cohn and Maggie Grace.
Overall, it’s a decent, but sometimes predictable, thriller. Not theater worthy, but it is pretty good for a straight-to-video release.
70/100
