Coup d’Etat Films, Sandbar Pictures, Abandon Pictures,

Tye Sheridan, Olivia Thirlby, Logan Miller, Ezra Miller, Nelsan Ellis, Michael Angarano, Keir Gilchrist, Jesse Carere, Miles Heizer, Gaius Charles, Nicholas Braun, Brett Davern, Benedict Samuel, Callan McAuliffe, James Frecheville, Ki Hong Lee, Moises Arias, Matt Bennett, Johnny Simmons, Harrison Thomas, Billy Crudup, Jack Kilmer, Thomas Mann, James Wolk, Chris Sheffield

In 1971, a Stanford University professor began an experiment, selecting 24 college students to participate in a study of the effects of incarceration on both the inmates and the guards. The participants were divided into two groups, guards and inmates, and the inmates were arrested by the local police force and brought to the “jail” that was setup in the basement of the psychology building on the university. What followed was a horrid experience for the nameless “inmates” who were psychologically tortured by the mock guards. The study was expected to last for 14 days, but did not make it near that long as the professor was urged to stop it after less than a week due to the horrifying impact on the kids who volunteered for this study. Much of what we know today is known from this infamous experiment, and many laws were put in place to make sure nothing like this ever happens again. This docudrama tells the story extremely realistically and is one of the most amazing stories of psychology gone awry.

This is similar to “The Experiment” that was released in 2010 which was loosely based on the same events, but this one is more like a documentary than fiction. The realism of the events are told in a straight forward “in your face” style that will surely shock you as well as educate you. Not much was known about whether your nature and background makes you more of an inmate or a guard, but in this experiment we found that the role you are “assigned” has a lot to do with how you act. There is a great deal of psychology included, and be sure not to miss the two special features on the DVD if you can. One covers the science of the experiment and is told by the actual professor who conducted this test. The second is about how they brought this experience to life in the video. It seems very close to the real story, as close as possible from an event from 1971, but that is probably because it is based on the book written by the professor who conducted the experiment and he plays a big role in advising and supervising the movie. This is a harsh story, and is filled with a lot of torture and very bad language. Not for the faint of heart or for the young folk, but this is one of the classic psychology studies that students today still learn about in school. This is a hard hitting and powerful film that is sure to affect you for a long time.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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Author: EdG

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