I want viewers and potential viewers of this film to keep one thing in mind. Although the film is based on the Stanford Prison Experiment conducted at Stanford University in 1971, many (or is most?) of the events depicted in the film did NOT occur during the actual experiment. The film is a fictionalized account, not a "true story" as more than one reviewer here has claimed. No one died during this experiment, and the experiment was abandoned after six days because the "guards'" treatment of the "prisoners" was becoming more and more disturbing, although it was psychological torment, not physical. Also, the "prisoners" were showing signs of depression and severe stress. All of this is documented in complete detail on Dr. Philip Zimbardo's web site: This is a day-by-day account of the entire TRUE experiment, and believe me, it is chilling enough without having to fictionalize it. It is especially instructive when reading this account to notice the clear parallels with the concentration camps; obviously this is what attracted the German filmmakers. On a personal note, I attended Stanford shortly after the experiment and it was part of the curriculum of the course I took from Dr. Zimbardo.
Review of The Experiment
