The Stanford Prison Experiment Review

What would happen if you were thrown into a prison for 2 weeks and how would you change to survive an environment of ridicule and fear? This is what Stanford Professor Philip Zimbardo, Ph.D. (Billy Crudup) had done in conducting an experiment back in 1971 that changed young boys/men and showed their true characters in shocking, horrifying ways.  The film The Stanford Prison Experiment is a dramatization directed by Kyle Patrick Alvarez of an actual experiment that took place but has inspired other films that have utilized this psychology study for other fictional/exaggerated story.  The young cast of indie actors really showcase their ability to morph into their characters exceptionally well as they become the roles they are told to become as the film progresses.  This is emphasized even more by the claustrophobic, hypnotically dull looking cinematography along with a script that provides the actors with tons of dramatic heft to the event and a synth based, haunting score that creates this enclosed world of power and fear that envelopes the viewer gracefully into the story and never lets up for its brisk, absorbing 2 hour run-time. Let’s get into what made this study compelling enough for a film to be made and where the line does get blurry with its flaws.

We follow Professor Zimbardo as he conducts a 2 week long experiment of a prison environment and how it can have an impact on their behavior be it as a guard or prisoner of their made up quarters within the halls of Stanford’s Psychology department.  A group of young men are drawn to the experiment for financial reasons and believe that what they have do is worth the $15 dollars a day they would receive by the end of this experiment.   What they didn’t anticipate was what this experiment would bring them into and so for the next few days, they would become something far worse than average human beings…but animals encaged by fear, power, and control.

While the story is presented in a matter of fact tone, it is the tense, slow burning editing with the antiquated look of the film coupled with the powerful performances from the ensemble cast that makes this film such an astounding realization of an event that truly exposed the weakness present in human nature when it is given or devoid of power in various degrees.  The power plays that are exhibited throughout between the guards and prisoners are handled with palpable tension that would have made these moments cliché but it comes across as terrifying from the assured, skillful direction from Alvarez.  It does seem slow on the buildup because of the huge size of the cast to establish and develop for the majority of the film but as soon as the experiment is fully underway, it grabs a hold of your attention and it never ceases to be boring from the terrific, harrowing performances from many of the young, promising actors in this film.  The story follows the familiar beats you expect in a biography film but it adheres to the genre troupes of thrillers it pays homage to with an actual story that invokes those emotions in real life but at times are exaggerated in certain plot elements as you would expect for this kind of film.

Which leads to the overall theme and ideas the story explores regarding power and the inherent authority and abuse it comes with it.  It seems like a joke at first but as it goes along, it becomes astoundingly frightening to see how given the chance, we can become just as cruel and mentally far out there with a god complex as to the hold we have over people with no means to resist.  This had to be mention as the way it is portray is quite disturbing and really comes through from the fine skills of the director shaping the performances gracefully without feeling disingenuous.  This is also accompanied by a tightly woven, sharp screenplay that makes all of the lessons, morals, and dialogue feel earned in expressing the awful, chaotic nature of this experiment through the claustrophobic visual direction of the story to go with it.  It always feels appropriate to what those people went through even if there are some exaggerations done for dramatic purposes (there were no physical abuse but the verbal abuse and degradation did happen if slightly different from the actual archival footage).

This brings up the main reason for this film being as profound as it was in making this real life event believable and intense, the cast of actors themselves. The standout of the young cast members were Ezra Miller and Michael Angarano for their respective roles of Daniel Culp/Prisoner 8612 and the leader of the guards called “John Wayne”/Christopher Archer.  Miller really displays his fragility with confidence and pain that you start to really become haunted by his agony as he becomes the most rebellious of the prisoners only for him to start a chain reaction that showcases his ability to make viewers care about his plight despite only being in half of the film.  As for Angarano, he really is a revelation in the entire youthful cast that plays his part with such glee and vibrant energy that it is a surprise to see him truly shine in this film despite being in some forgettable roles in previous years before this.  Another standout of the cast is Billy Crudup as Professor Zimbardo who really gives a truly understated, emotionally driven performance that makes him really empathetic in what he is trying to achieve despite the actions he takes to push these students to their limits.  These were the standouts of the cast in a sea of really outstanding mix of actors giving their best in this film.

It should be worth mention the other standouts in the supporting cast before we get to the technical elements of the film starting with Nelsan Ellis as Jesse Fletcher, yet again showcasing how versatile he is in playing different roles with him being a former prisoner that gives the experiment a certain kind of authenticity to it.  The mix of unknown/character actors from Tye Sheridan to Johnny Simmons give tremendously memorable performances in the scenes they were featured prominently. There wasn’t really a performances in this cast that really was lackluster other than the ones that were glanced over since it focused on only a few of the subjects that were to be the anchors that carried the story through to its inevitable, real life conclusion.  Despite some of the actors being underutilized for a decent chunk of this film, they gave their finest performances so far in their careers within this film.

The technical elements also shine bright and clear in this film on top of the stellar cast for this film with the cinematography, editing, and musical score with each adding to the strength of the film’s emotionally tense journey.  For the cinematography, there are extensive use of close ups throughout on a number of the shots to establish the claustrophobic nature of the prison from the student’s living and guarding it.  It had only a handful of wide shots and that was near the beginning, a few in the middle, and at the very end of the film.  The compositions of these shots really created this enclosed quarter that made the viewer feel entrapped by this world the professor created.  This is made even more uncomfortable by kinetic, shifting editing in both energy and structure as well as a synth based score by Andrew Hewitt that really creates this unnerving ambient vibe to the setting that feels like a throwback to 1970’s thrillers.  Its use of the bland, generic office setting only further emphasize the despair these characters undergo through during the days the experiment really took place.  It is the careful use of the shot compositions and lighting of that location which adds to the dreary, harsh nature of the story being told.

David Patrick Alvarez’s biography film drama The Stanford Prison Experiment is quite a tense, riveting tale of what power and authority can do to people and reveal what they are capable of in terrifying ways.  The performances from the entire cast is fantastic all around thanks to the intelligently crafted screenplay from Tim Talbott with the help of 2 other writers (Christopher McQuarrie and P.W. Hopsidor) as well as the confident, hard hitting direction for both the acting and visual style for this film.  This is not only a modern, relatable adaptation of a true story but one that really invokes a certain truth about human nature that can be applied in regards to how we perceive power and authority as well as its abuse of it today in our culture.  Despite some slow plodding issues in the middle act along with some exaggerations given to certain aspects of the story (the physical abuse being the major one that was done for the film only but it does work well enough to forgive this dramatic choice), this intense drama will sure to linger with you after the credits roll.

Score: ****1/2 out of *****
This is a film driven by the engaging performances and the skillful direction present throughout this entire production.  It serves as a great showcase for young talents in the industry to tell a story that happens to still resonant and inspire conversations about the human nature with power and authority.  There are some issues of pacing particularly with its middle act as well as some exaggerations made to the actual story that might be considered inaccurate but at least they are only minor when the acting as well as the visual choices made through the effective direction/editing.  This is one drama that will grab you and hopefully inspire some conversations about the abuse of power and authority among humanity.