The Experiment

United States

2010

96 Min

Color, Black and White

2.35:1

English

Currently 2.7/5 Stars.
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EXEC Matty Beckerman, Marc Conrad, Stephen Hays, John Michaels, Norbert Preuss, Al-Saadi Qadhafi, Tracee Stanley, Friedrich Wildfeuer

PROD Marty Adelstein, Maggie Monteith, Scott Nemes, Dawn Parouse, Paul Scheuring

SCR Paul Scheuring, Mario Giordano, Christoph Darnstädt, Don Bohlinger, Oliver Hirschbiegel

CAST Adrien Brody, Forest Whitaker, Cam Gigandet, Clifton Collins Jr., Ethan Cohn, Fisher Stevens, Travis Fimmel, David Banner, Jason Lew, Damien Leake, Maggie Grace, Rod Maiorano, Rachel O'Meara

This remake of Oliver Hirschbiegel’s (Der Untergang, The Invasion) Das Experiment (2001) really captures the claustrophobia and psychological pressure suffered by the participants in an artificial prison experiment. When 26 mentally stable men are introduced to their roles as prisoners and prison guards their behavior eventually evolves in a very disturbing way.

Starting off as perfectly normal humans, the presence of strict authority affects them very directly and turns them into violent and aggressive guards and prisoners. The roles they were about to play suddenly become real. Paul Scheuring’s background as creator and writer of several episodes of Prison Break makes him ideal for directing The Experiment. Though set in a much smaller time frame, he really manages to create some interesting psychological portraits with astonishing depth. Brilliant acting by lead actors Adrien Brody and Forest Whitaker makes this feature film even more interesting. –Stockholm International Film Festival