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Inspired by a famous 1971 psychological experiment, Oliver Hirschbiegel's German-language movie
The Experiment finds a group of 20 volunteers randomly divided into 12 prisoners and eight guards and asked to play out their roles for a fortnight while scientists study their reactions. A conflict arises between undercover reporter Fahd (Moritz Bleibtreu), a con with a hidden agenda, and the apparently mild-mannered Berus (Justus von Dohnanyi), a guard with a megalomaniac streak. The film begins as a psychological drama as ordinary people settle into the game, with joking displays of resistance by the "prisoners" greeted with increasing brutality from the "guards," but detours into suspense and horror as Fahd, who needs the experiment to get out of hand in order to make his story more saleable, deliberately ratchets up the tension between the factions only to see the situation spiral nightmarishly out of control as various test subjects in both camps edge closer to snapping.
With a terrific display of ensemble acting and unforced use of the popular claustrophobic semi-documentary look, Hirschbiegel's movie takes its time to get underway, with apparently irrelevant cutaways to Fahd's outside girlfriend (Maren Eggert), but works up to a powerful second half that delivers a sustained symphony of psychological and physical anguish. --Kim Newman
Review
What happens when all of your human rights are taken away? How would you react if you've been handed complete control over others that have nothing? At one point, ordinary men were asked to role-play this scenario and it took only six days for things to get completely out of control. Based on the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment in 1971, where psychologists tested 20 men in a simulated prison system as inmates and guards for two weeks, director Olivier Hirschbiegel and his respected writers have taken that basis and crafted Das Experiment -- a thought-provoking thriller that's as engaging as it is entertaining. The film plays on the positions of power on a psychological level, thus blurring the lines of reality for each of the characters -- most of the time with dire results. And while the actors are spot-on, with exceptional performances by Moritz Bleibtreu (of Run Lola Run fame) as the rebellious inmate Tarek and a nasty turn from Justus VonDohnanyi as the Hitler-esque Berus, it's Hirschbiegel's direction and unexpected twists in the story that propel this claustrophobic tale. Each tension-filled turn drives the viewer deeper into the nightmare, which makes the inevitable ending that much more satisfying when it finally comes (something the film's detractors love to loathe). At times hard to watch, Das Experiment isn't for everyone -- but those that are willing to take the plunge into this kind of heavy territory might be surprised just how refreshing the trip really is. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
