Director: Kyle Patrick Alvarez
Writer: Tim Talbott (Screenplay) Philip Zimbardo (Book)
Starring: Billy Crudup, Michael Angarano, Ezra Miller, Tye Sheridan, Logan Miller, Keir Gilchrist
Plot: Twenty-four male students out of seventy-five were selected to take on randomly assigned roles of prisoners and guards in a mock prison situated in the basement of the Stanford psychology building.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Tense Drama
Story: The Stanford Prison Experiment starts with Dr Philip Zimbardo (Crudup) is given a chance to prefer an experiment with 24 male students in Stanford psychology building. The idea is half the volunteer students will become prisoners the other half with be the guards.
With the contract stating no harm can be given to anyone involved, it is only the first day when things start to get out of hand as the guards start taking the role too seriously and this experiment heads down a path that even Dr Zimbardo could imagine it to go.
Thoughts on The Stanford Prison Experiment
Characters – Dr Philip Zimbardo is performing this experiment because he could make his career proving the mentality of the prison system, he doesn’t want to let thing get out of hand but is willing to the rules broken. The students playing both the prisoners and guards both become different types of what you would expect from a prison environment, they don’t get overly as much attention you would think but they are all important to what happens in the story.
Performance – Billy Crudup is great in the doctor role but the highlight of the film comes from the actors playing the subjects, be it the prisoners or the guards both sides are fantastic with playing their roles.
Story – The story is loosely based on the real Stanford Experiments which shows us just how twenty-four students get placed into roles of either prisoners or guards over a week long experiment that just gets to the levels of just how far will things go. Seeing how the men act puts us to the limits of wondering just how far things could go as we see things get intense in moments. Having seen the Experiment movie I was expecting certain things to happen but this time none of these appear in the movie, this does disappoint because the film never hits the truly shocking moments it could.
Biography/History – This is a known experiment with different variables involved, it shows us the basic idea and it is still known as one of the most famous experiments in world history.
Settings – The film is set entirely within the created Stanford Prison, it is either inside or watching from just outside seeing how it unfolds.
Scene of the Movie – The first moment the guards show what they will do.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – I feel this could have an explosive ending.
Final Thoughts – This is a good tense thrilling character study that shows us just how far people could go.
Overall: Tense thriller that pulls you in.
Rating
