The Experiment (2010) - 3 stars out of 10

The Experiment (2010) - 3 stars out of 10

"The Experiment" is an interesting story that lacks one important factor: "Why?"  I understand that the writers felt that the evolving human behavior would better be on display if the reason for this experiment was enshrouded in mystery, but by the end of the film it would be so much more satisfying to know why these men had to endure this test.  They hint at why but without a satisfactory answer in the end, it just feels like a waste of time.  If nothing else, this film gave me a good excuse to research the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment.  This movie is very farfetched but it was a lot more interesting with supplementary YouTube clips that relate this to what actually happened in 1971.  Forest Whitaker's acting is incredibly refined and he builds a lot of passive intensity through his transformation, but he is hindered by his character (who isn't very interesting).  I know what this film was going for but the "Twelve Angry Men anonymity" falls flat when the human element of the experiment escalates too fast for our emotions to keep up.