The Experiment

Original title: Das Experiment

2001
R
2h

IMDb RATING

7.7/10

97K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer1:41

Psychological Drama Psychological Thriller Drama Thriller

For two weeks, 20 male participants are hired to play prisoners and guards in a prison. The "prisoners" have to follow seemingly mild rules, and the "guards" are told to retain order without... Read allFor two weeks, 20 male participants are hired to play prisoners and guards in a prison. The "prisoners" have to follow seemingly mild rules, and the "guards" are told to retain order without using physical violence.For two weeks, 20 male participants are hired to play prisoners and guards in a prison. The "prisoners" have to follow seemingly mild rules, and the "guards" are told to retain order without using physical violence.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.7/10

97K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

4,983

3,691

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 14 wins & 14 nominations

Trivia
Although no one died in the Stanford Prison Experiment on which the movie was based, the experiment was prematurely ended after six days out of a planned two weeks. The college students assigned (randomly) to be prisoners were "withdrawing and behaving in pathological ways" as a result of the degrading treatment they received. Quite a few scenes in the movie actually happened in the original experiment, including the early fire extinguisher scene and the prisoners being forced to clean the toilets by their bare hands.

Goofs
On the film poster Tarek is wearing number 82, but in the film he is number 77.

Quotes
[last lines]
Nachrichtensprecher: [voiceover - spoiler] The tragic outcome: two dead, three injured, among them project leader Professor Klaus Thon. Clearly, the experiment went out of control after two days. The district attorney is investigating two possible manslaughter charges and several charges of abuse and negligence. One of the test participants has been arrested. The project direction will probably have to answer to a court. According to statements by one of the scientists, the escalation might have been prevented by aborting the experiment earlier.

Alternate versions
The first cinema version had an insert in the beginning of the movie which stated "This is based on the Stanford Prison Experiment". Since Prof. Philip Zimbardo wasn't asked by the filmmakers - and the movie doesn't really show the true experiment, but an exaggeration, the insert was changed to say "This movie is based on the novel Black Box"

Connections
Featured in Visionado obligado: El experimento (2012)

Soundtracks
One Step Closer
Chester Bennington / Rob Bourdon / Brad Delson / Joseph Hahn / Mike Shinoda
Linkin Park
Mit freundlicher Genehmigung der
Zomba Enterprises Inc. / Zomba Songs Inc. / Rob Bourdon Music
Nondisclosure Agreement Music/Big Bad Mr.Hahn Music / Kenji Kobayashi Music
(all adm. by Zomba Songs Inc.) und der Wea Records, ein Geschaftsbereich
von Warner Music Germany GmbH

User reviews189

Review

Featured review

8/10

Germans do it better than Americans!

"The Experiment" is a kind of movie you won't forget easily. It is an amazing spiral of fear, horror and anguish.

A taxi driver decides to be an human guinea-pig for a strange experiment. Twenty men. Two groups. Guards vs. thieves. The prize is money. Every man will have money.

After two days something gets wrong. The taxi driver, who is a reporter too, wants to face the guards. So he provokes the guards: they can't use violence against the prisoners...

After more days the situation becomes more extreme. The guards want to impose their dominion on the prisoners. And now the situation is out of control...

The script isn't really original, but it's been developed in a satisfaction way. The direction is dynamic. If the Americans do movies like Germans, we'll have more interesting products.