Review of The Experiment (2010) by Jiana W — 20 Mar 2011

This movie was pretty intense to watch. I was glued to my seat for an hour and a half, just wondering what was going to happen next. The film apparently is a remake of a German film. It centers on Travis, a kind hippie sort of guy who loses his job and searches for a way for quick cash. Enter the wanted ads in the newspaper, where scientists are offering $14,000 to men willing to participate in a 2-week behavioral experiment in a prison setting. They divide the men up into two groups, prisoners and prison guards. The meek momma's boy, Barris (played by a creepy, maniacal Forest Whitaker), begins to take his role as prison guard very seriously. In short, he and his fellow guards (but especially him) become drunk on the power that they now have. While the rules firmly established during the experiment de-briefing say that violence is most certainly not to be used, he resorts to humiliation and intimidation to get Travis, who has become the prisoner's leader, to comply. Eventually violence does break out and the ending is an explosive prison riot that has the once-peaceful Travis leading his fellow prisoners in an uprising against their abusive guards.

The film is a study on what can happen when people are given total control of others. You can see it in Barris' face as he realizes that he can make these men do exactly what he wants. He grows excited (literally) at the thought and becomes drunk with his new power and status as the leader of the prison guards. When Travis rebels, it enrages him because it is a threat to his status and he tries his best to break Travis.

I thought the film was interesting and riveting, if not a bit disturbing. The actors all did a great job, especially Brody and Whitaker. I wasn't exactly sure what the message of the film was but I think that maybe it was that there's a time when violence is necessary to stop injustice. Sometimes reasoning with people detached from humanity is fruitless and they must literally be stopped before they can do anymore damage. At least that's what I took away from it. That and the fact that anybody, no matter how well-meaning, has the capacity to also become a monster if circumstances allow.