The Experiment (2010)

26 men are chosen to participate in the roles of guards and prisoners in a psychological study that ultimately spirals out of control.

Director:

Paul T. Scheuring

Writers:

Paul T. Scheuring (screenplay), Mario Giordano (novel)

Stars:

Adrien Brody, Cam Gigandet, Forest Whitaker

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Adrien Brody	...	Travis
Forest Whitaker	...	Barris
Cam Gigandet	...	Chase
Clifton Collins Jr.	...	Nix
Ethan Cohn	...	Benjy
Fisher Stevens	...	Archaleta
Travis Fimmel	...	Helweg
David Banner	...	Bosch (as Lavell 'David Banner' Crump)
Jason Lew	...	Oscar
Damien Leake	...	Govenor
Maggie Grace	...	Bay
Rod Maiorano	...	Rex
Rachel O'Meara	...	Female Administrator
Jeanne Hopson	...	Gertrude
Jack Mishler	...	Henry (as Jack W. Mishler)

Storyline

For a handsome $1,000-a-day reward, the unemployed pacifist, Travis, decides to take part in a controversial two-week behavioural experiment that will attempt to simulate life within the prison walls. Now, inside a controlled environment, two hand-picked groups of twenty inmates and six guards must follow a simple set of basic rules, while high-tech cameras monitor the entire makeshift jail. However, devoid of their civil rights and their identities, the volunteers will soon find themselves dragged into a dangerous and volatile situation, as the sadistic warders begin to take extreme pleasure in enforcing their authority. Under those circumstances, Travis, or the rebellious Prisoner #77, will have to explore his limits. How long can he last?

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Plot Keywords:

sadism | psychological study | prisoner | guard | human nature | 

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Taglines:

Prisoner #77 chose to be here.

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong disturbing violence including a rape, language, some sexual content and nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

The bracelet in the left hand of Travis says "Abhay" in Hindi which means "The Fearless".

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Goofs

When an "inmate" who has diabetic low blood sugars, he correctly says he needs sugar. But later, still with low blood sugar, he says he just needs insulin. That would lower his blood sugar even more resulting in coma or death.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Travis: [playing shuffleboard] You suck, don't you?
Gertrude: You suck.
Travis: Yeah, I suck so bad I just skunked you. Which means, you gotta eat your pills.
Gertrude: You're supposed to be nice to me.
Travis: I am nice to you. It's not my fault you got no game.
Gertrude: You suck, Travis.
Travis: I know.

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Connections

Version of The Stanford Prison Experiment (2015)

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Soundtracks

I'm a F**cking Genius
Written by Daniel Bolton
Performed by Supersuckers

User Reviews

Clever, but

Could've been done more with this one. Interesting story, slowly built, tensed, well portrayed characters (not just the main two), excellent acting (Brody and Whitaker especially), but in the end unfortunately fails to materialize all that in to something more. Apart from the plain ending and unnecessary undeveloped female character, everything else was done right and it is a gripping thriller indeed.

Probably the most important is that the movie succeeds in the main idea, catching the human nature and its transformation placed in certain conditions. As expected blinding of power and rebelling makes the violence slowly but surely spreads and the movie becomes more disturbing, answering my question why is it going straight to DVD.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 August 2010 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

The Experiment

Filming Locations:

Alleman, Iowa, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$21,800,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$716,580

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alliance Cinema, Alliance Cinema, Inferno Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1