Experimenter (2015) – Review

People are sometimes like cattle, mindlessly following others, capable of anything. You don’t only see this through specific behaviour in the past or in the news, but also various experiments have confirmed this. When it comes to social psychology there are a couple which are well-known, where especially the Stanford-prison experiment and Milgram’s experiment are notorious. Power corrupts and commands are often followed. 2015 produced movies about both of them. There isthe Standford Prison Experiment (and previously The Experiment). Experimenter tells Milgram’s story about the experiment that made him famous.

The movie opens with his experiment, which involves two volunteers. One is the teacher, the other (who actually is part of the scientists) the student, who is located in another room. They are told that the goal of the test is to find out if punishing someone has impact om their ability to learn. The teacher is in front of a machine capable of administering shocks to the student, increasing in power. The idea is to see how far someone will go in giving shocks when he is told to, even when the student is screaming that he is in pain and can’t take it anymore.

Stanley Milgram (Peter Sarsgaard) is a social psychologist, who gets the idea for the test after seeing the courtcase against Adolf Eichmann. The results of his research are shocking (no pun intended) and don’t only affect society, but also his personal career.

 Sarsgaard is good in his role, but Winona Ryder, who plays his wife Sasha is a joy to watch. The way in which Experimenter tells its story stands out. Milgram regularly breaks the fourth wall and the backdrops are often simple black and white pictures instead of real sets, giving the movie an artificial feel which matches the subject matter. Because of it the viewer is involved more and you will start wondering what you would do yourself if you would be in such a experiment. Will you be strong enough to say no or will you continue? Which factors play a part in this? Will you lose yourself in such a situation or would you be able to see it in perspective? Experimenter manages to bring important research to life.