'The Experiment' is based on the famous Stanford Prison Experiment, in which 24 Stanford students took on the roles of guards and prisoners for a psychological experiment in 1971. And within a period of only 6 days, those students had adapted to their roles so well that the conductors had to shut down the experiment prematurely. The experiment was seen by the conductors as an example for their hypothesis that the personality traits of prisoners and guards are the chief cause of abusive behavior in prison. However, it has since gone through quite a lot of criticism for many things including the ways the conductors influenced test subjects through their instructions, and the fact that students who volunteered for the experiment were mostly aggressive and authoritarian. It's also notable that BBC attempted to replicate this experiment in 2002 but did not get the same result.
So in short, the Stanford Prison Experiment is not really an interesting discovery as it aspired to be, and so is this movie. Compared to the real-life experiment, the movie is even more ridiculous since it eventually ignores the test subjects' salary, one of the driven factors in the original experiment, and more importantly, it fails to mention the experiment's goal, and therefore makes the whole thing rather pointless. As the result, the only thing that the movie has 'proven' is violent people will act violently given the chance, a fact that can be seen in almost all thriller/action movies ever.
The execution, fortunately, is a bit better that the premise. It's actually very suspense and gripping at times, and the characters' progression, at least within the first hour, is quite logical. The acting, however, was much less convincing. I've found myself laughing at some scenes that were supposed to be serious due to the terrible supporting cast. It also contains some very implausible details like how unprepared and understaffed the conductors are, or the relationship between the main character and his 'girlfriend'. I especially question the parts with the girlfriend, because I'm still not sure why the movie makers even felt that they needed to have her in the movie. As far as I can see, all she does is dragging the movie out, and showing some nudity.
In conclusion, 'The Experiment' is a quite entertaining movie with a unique setting, but that's it. There's nothing really groundbreaking, or interesting about it. If that's what you expect, then I recommend watching a documentary on the original experiment instead.
So in short, the Stanford Prison Experiment is not really an interesting discovery as it aspired to be, and so is this movie. Compared to the real-life experiment, the movie is even more ridiculous since it eventually ignores the test subjects' salary, one of the driven factors in the original experiment, and more importantly, it fails to mention the experiment's goal, and therefore makes the whole thing rather pointless. As the result, the only thing that the movie has 'proven' is violent people will act violently given the chance, a fact that can be seen in almost all thriller/action movies ever.
The execution, fortunately, is a bit better that the premise. It's actually very suspense and gripping at times, and the characters' progression, at least within the first hour, is quite logical. The acting, however, was much less convincing. I've found myself laughing at some scenes that were supposed to be serious due to the terrible supporting cast. It also contains some very implausible details like how unprepared and understaffed the conductors are, or the relationship between the main character and his 'girlfriend'. I especially question the parts with the girlfriend, because I'm still not sure why the movie makers even felt that they needed to have her in the movie. As far as I can see, all she does is dragging the movie out, and showing some nudity.
In conclusion, 'The Experiment' is a quite entertaining movie with a unique setting, but that's it. There's nothing really groundbreaking, or interesting about it. If that's what you expect, then I recommend watching a documentary on the original experiment instead.