“The Stanford Prison Experiment” is a thought-provoking dramatization of the literally unbelievable experiment at Stanford University in 1971. I have always been fascinated by this chapter in history and wish that the film had received a wider release so that everybody could experience this curiosity. The premise of the story is that 15 college students are selected at random to take on the role of prison guard or inmate, and the situation quickly turns intense as the students struggle to separate their perception from reality. I don’t want to dig into the plot too much because you really just need to see it to believe it. The casting was very well done, making ever prisoner and guard seem completely ordinary and equal at the onset of the experiment. Ezra Miller and Michael Angarano steal the show with their emotional performances, though all of the characterization is amazing as each student reacts to the experiment in a subtly different way. The film’s only flaw is that the characters sometimes seem over-the-top. But that’s what makes the film so amazing. These seemingly over-the-top circumstances actually happened in this experiment! The language is pretty strong at points, but it is necessary to create the realism of this story. If you have never heard of this experiment or enjoy gripping thrillers, you will love “The Stanford Prison Experiment.”
[Pictured: You constantly want to reach through the screen to remind these characters that it is just an experiment, but they can't help progressively buy into their circumstances]
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