A psychological thriller that observes the behavioural changes people undergo when they're placed in a position of power or submission in a confined atmosphere, Das Experiment is a patiently crafted, concisely narrated & brilliantly performed feature that begins slowly but escalates soon enough into a nail-biting tale of survival.Das Experiment tells the story of Tarek Fahd; a taxi driver who, in order to make some quick cash, decides to take part in a social experiment after learning about it in a newspaper. The volunteers are assigned the role of guards & prisoners in a simulated prison situation but it soon spirals out of control when the guards become aware of the power they have.Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel (best known for Der Untergang), Das Experiment borrows its concept from the real life Stanford Prison Experiment and pushes it into a dangerous realm but there are a few subplots it could have possibly done without for it only slows down the entire narrative and at times, is an unnecessary distraction. But the final act still brings it all together quite nicely.The situation under the prison is ingeniously captured on camera for we see human nature coming into play as the psychological effect of the roles assigned to these volunteers lead them to act in ways they possibly wouldn't in a different scenario. The regulated movement of the camera steadily intensifies the given circumstances as the story progresses and the cast chips in with convincing performances.On an overall scale, Das Experiment is an escalating nightmare that illustrates how a given situation attributes to unexpected changes in the behaviour of an individual and tends to intensify more n more as the plot moves forward, eventually culminating on a devastating note. Although a tighter editing would've benefited its narrative, Das Experiment delivers the goods for the most part and is definitely worth a shot.

I wasn't too sure what to expect when I first placed this movie in my 'watchlist' some days ago. Needless to say, however, i'm more than glad I did. 'The Experiment' was a rather harsh movie which really makes you feel helpless while watching. It's a story of insanity, fear and psychosis, all brought on by a poorly managed experiment. It was a very entertaining movie and I could really feel the emotions of each character and felt like I could somehow relate to their plight. My only complaint would have to be a lack of character development at points, because even though you felt for the characters in the movie, it still didn't really feel like you knew them. I would have especially liked more background on #77s cell-mate (that's not a spoiler now, is it?). Anyways, overall it was a great movie. I would definitely recommend this movie to a lover of violence and psychological suspense, as well as to someone who is captivated by cognitive experimentation.

I could not stop thinking about the fact that they had no security measures taken while conducting the experiment. Then again, this helps increase the suspense through the course of the experiment. I just did not find the take on "security" very convincing, since the only emergency protocol they had was to "call the professor". From the beginning of the movie, I couldn't stop thinking such an experiment where people are asked to surrender some of their civil rights would require supervision by government authorities and such. Apart from that, I was also troubled by the ability of the guards to access the outside world, while prisoners could not. The audience is not given much information about the layout of the experiment.

Das Experiment (The Experiment) is a decent psychological thriller loosely based on the 1970s Stanford Prison Experiment. It follows the travails of failed journalist Tarek Fahd as he attempts to reinvigorate his career by joining and secretly documenting a prison simulation experiment. What follows is a descent into violence.The film is at its best when it examines the psychological degeneration of the experiment's participants. Initially charming guards, such as an Elvis impersonator, It is no coincidence that this is a German film, as there is a heavy emphasis on how ordinary men can degenerate into sadistic monsters. The Third Reich parallels are made explicit when one prisoner calls a particularly brutal guard a "dirty, rotten, stinky, Nazi." It is arguable that Hannah Arendt should have been given writing credits.The film suffers in its latter half, however, from an all too typical degeneration into action movie clichés and violence, with the film losing all sense of verisimilitude. (Particularly given the fact that in the actual Stanford Prison Experiment, students who played prisoners became submissive, not aggressive.) Furthermore, the film includes an all too typical romantic angle that distracts from the psychodrama. These flaws mar what could have been a far better film.