Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
20 volunteers agree to take part in a seemingly well-paid experiment advertised by the university. It is supposed to be about aggressive behavior in an artificial prison situation. A journalist senses a story behind the ad and smuggles himself in among the test subjects. They are randomly divided into prisoners and guards. What seems like a game at the beginning soon turns into bloody seriousness.
Das Experiment is a gripping German thriller loosely based on the Stanford Prison Experiment. Its plot is genuinely tense and escalates with disturbing plausibility, earning top marks. The acting is exceptional — Moritz Bleibtreu and Justus von Dohnanyi deliver powerhouse performances that anchor the film's psychological intensity. Cinematography is competent and functional but not particularly distinctive. Novelty is above average — while the premise draws on a real historical event and familiar 'social experiment gone wrong' territory, the execution has a raw, urgent energy that distinguishes it. The ending resolves the immediate conflict but feels somewhat rushed and conventionally thriller-ish compared to the film's more cerebral first two acts, landing it just above average.