The Stanford Prison Experiment (film)

Plot

Stanford University psychology professor Philip Zimbardo conducts a psychological experiment to test the hypothesis that the personality traits of prisoners and guards are the chief cause of abusive behavior between them. In the experiment, Zimbardo selects fifteen male students to participate in a 14-day prison simulation to take roles as prisoners or guards. They receive $15 per day. The experiment is conducted in a mock prison located in the basement of Jordan Hall, the university's psychology department building. The students who are guards become abusive, as does Zimbardo himself, as they immerse themselves in their assigned roles. Two students who play the role of prisoners quit the experiment early due to psychological meltdowns, and, only after being chastised and roughly brought back to reality by his girlfriend, Christina Maslach, Zimbardo abruptly stops the entire experiment after only six days.

Cast

Production

A film project about the Stanford prison experiment was first announced in 2002, when producer Brent Emery assigned Tim Talbott to write the script for the film. Problems beset and delayed the project for twelve years, including financing and the 2007 writers' strike. In 2006, two competing films about the experiment were in development, one at Maverick Films and the other Inferno's The Experiment.

On August 19, 2014, Sandbar Pictures and Abandon Pictures came on board to finance the film. Kyle Patrick Alvarez was set to direct and producers would be Brent Emery, Lizzie Friedman, Greg Little, Lauren Bratman and Brian Geraghty.

Casting

On August 19, 2014, it was announced that Billy Crudup, Ezra Miller and Michael Angarano would play lead roles. On August 26, Jack Kilmer joined the cast to play Jim, one of the student prisoners whose personality makes him the perfect subject to comply with all that is asked of him. On August 28, Nicholas Braun joined the film to play Vandy, an abusive and sadistic guard. On September 4, Brett Davern was added to the cast. He plays Hubbie Whitlow, an affable young participant whose failed escape attempt leads to grueling humiliation at the hands of sadistic guards. On September 9, Jesse Carere joined the cast to play Paul, Prisoner 5704, a gangly young man who counts smoking as his only vice. On October 10, more ensemble cast was announced which include Olivia Thirlby as Christina Maslach, professor Zimbardo's future wife and fellow academic, Nelsan Ellis as Jesse Fletcher, Tye Sheridan as prisoner Peter Mitchell, James Frecheville as guard Townshend, Johnny Simmons as prisoner Jeff Jansen, and Ki Hong Lee as prisoner Gavin Chan.

Filming

Principal photography began on August 19, 2014, in Los Angeles, and lasted 21 days.

Release

The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2015. By coincidence, Experimenter, a film about another notorious psychological experiment, the Milgram experiment, had premiered at Sundance the day before.

IFC Films acquired the US rights to the film on March 5, 2015. The film was released on July 17, 2015, by IFC Films. The film was released on Blu-Ray and iTunes on November 17, 2015.

Reception

Upon its premiere at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, The Stanford Prison Experiment received a positive response from critics. Amateur review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a "certified fresh" rating of 85%, based on reviews from 74 critics, with an average score of 6.9/10. The site's consensus states: "As chillingly thought-provoking as it is absorbing and well-acted, The Stanford Prison Experiment offers historical drama that packs a timelessly relevant punch." On the amateur review site Metacritic the film has a score of 68 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Leslie Felperin of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, writing "For all its flaws it's a rich, thought-provoking film which, while challenging, is not without humor and visual pleasures." Kyle Smith of the New York Post felt that "Tim Talbott's dense script provides much to discuss and argue about, providing both left and right with talking points." Jordan Hoffman of The Guardian gave the film four out of five stars and judged that "Director Kyle Patrick Alvarez deserves all the praise in the world for the way he cranks up this pressure cooker script." Edward Douglas in his review for ComingSoon praised the film, remarking "While this is going to be a polarizing and divisive film, it's one that people will talk about after seeing it, almost as if it was made as an experiment itself."

However, Justin Chang of Variety criticized the film, saying "The combination of relentless forward drive and gruesomely fastidious detail, while audacious and admirable in theory, begins to pay dwindling returns in a picture that feels rather longer than its 122-minute running time."