The Stanford Prison Experiment (2015)

The film that I chose for today, I had a chance to watch the first time around when I did my first 366 challenge, but unfortunately I never got around to it. The film I chose for today is based on true events and a true experiment that took place at Stanford University. The film and the experiment was called The Stanford Prison Experiment and it was directed by Kyle Patrick Alvarez (13 Reasons Why). The film stars Billy Crudup (Almost Famous) as Dr. Philip Zimbardo, a professor who decides that he is going to hire equal amounts of men so that he can perform an experiment to see how each person would react when given a certain role which is either prisoner or prison guard. The film also stars Michael Angarano (Almost Famous) as Chris, Moises Arias (Nacho Libre) as Anthony,  Nicholas Braun (Red State) as Karl, Keir Gilchrist (It Follows) as John, Ki Hong Lee (The Maze Runner) as 3401, Thomas Mann (Me, Earl, and The Dying Girl) as prisoner 416, Ezra Miller (Justice League) as 8612, Logan Miller (Scouts Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse) as 5486, Tye Sheridan (X-Men: Apocalypse) as 819, Johnny Simmons (Scott Pilgrim Vs The World) as 1037, Olivia Thirlby (Juno) as Dr. Christina Maslach, and the late Nelsan Ellis (True Blood) as Jesse Fletcher.

The film features a lot of the whose who of young actors in Hollywood that we have seen in countless films so this was a chance for some of them to have more serious roles. I am going to start by saying that I really did enjoy the film because you're waiting to see what happens next and if there will be chaos, but the film was definitely well acted and if I had to pick my MVP's of the film, the award would go to Ezra Miller who played that generations whiner and Michael Angarano who literally transformed on screen when he became a prison guard and he was truly fascinating to watch the whole time. None of the other prison guards could come close to him even though Nicholas Braun did well too so I would give him honorable mention. Sometimes you wonder why the ethics board is all over you when you are trying to do something and that is because of experiments like this which could have lasting effects. My only criticism of the film is that while they may have nailed the look as far as hairstyles, but some of these guys looked so goofy and awkward with mustaches. I couldn't take those serious when I saw some of the characters with them, but other than that they pretty much nailed it. If you are in to films that are based on true stories like myself then this is definitely one to watch. For more information like what the real Zimbardo thought of the film and other things, check out this article here. I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade.