Summary
Drama based on a true story, starring Billy Crudup and Michael Angarano. Eighteen volunteers are locked in a mock prison and assigned the roles of "guards" and "prisoners". Over six days, the group undergoes a disturbing breakdown.
Drama based on a true story, starring Billy Crudup and Michael Angarano. Eighteen volunteers are locked in a mock prison and assigned the roles of "guards" and "prisoners". Over six days, the group undergoes a disturbing breakdown.
This raw, disturbing, often unbearably tense true-life drama concerns Stanford University's controversial 1971 study into prison life, where student volunteers assumed the roles of prisoners and guards to devastating effect. Screenwriter Tim Talbott faithfully follows the facts and identifies the actual project leaders by name, with Billy Crudup playing Dr Philip Zimbardo and Olivia Thirlby as his partner Christina Maslach - only the identities of the human guinea pigs have been changed. (Even a Tarantino-esque exchange about Cool Hand Luke - ("You look like the guy who kills Paul Newman at the end." "Haven't seen the flick - thanks for ruining it.") - is based on actual testimony.) Aside from one use of slo-mo during the first eruption of violence, director Kyle Patrick Alvarez directs without artifice, his flat tracking shots emphasising the repetition of "prison" life and the sadism of the guards. He's ably assisted by Andrew Hewitt's minimalist score and a solid ensemble cast, including Michael Angarano (HBO's The Knick) and Ezra Miller (We Need to Talk about Kevin) as a victimised inmate.
role | name |
---|---|
Dr Philip Zimbardo | Billy Crudup |
Christopher Archer | Michael Angarano |
Anthony Carroll | Moises Arias |
Karl Vandy | Nicholas Braun |
Prisoner 416 | Thomas Mann (2) |
Peter Mitchell / 819 | Tye Sheridan |
Daniel Culp / 8612 | Ezra Miller |
Dr Christina Maslach | Olivia Thirlby |
Matthew Townshend | James Frecheville |
Jim Randall / 4325 | Jack Kilmer |
Jesse Fletcher | Nelsan Ellis |
role | name |
---|---|
Director | Kyle Patrick Alvarez |