The Stanford Prison Experiment

The Stanford Prison Experiment dramatizes a 1971 study run by Stanford psychology professor Philip Zimbardo. Male students are recruited for a two-week simulation in which they are assigned at random to act as guards or inmates inside a mock prison set up in a basement of the university's psychology building. The roles quickly take hold: those given authority grow harsh and inventive in their abuse, while the prisoners, subjected to humiliation and psychological pressure, are driven toward breakdown and revolt. Before the planned period is over, Zimbardo loses control of the situation he designed.

The film is directed by Kyle Patrick Alvarez, working from a screenplay by Tim Talbott. In the director's filmography it is the earlier of the two features listed, preceding Crater by eight years. Billy Crudup plays Zimbardo, with Michael Angarano, Ezra Miller, Tye Sheridan, Olivia Thirlby and Nelsan Ellis among the credited cast of thirty-one.

Released in July 2015, the film runs 122 minutes and belongs to the drama, history and thriller genres. It drew a critics' rating of 7 out of 10 from around one hundred reviews, slightly above the 6.8 out of 10 it holds on IMDb from roughly forty-eight thousand votes; on TMDB it also sits at 6.8, from a much smaller base of about a thousand votes.