The Experiment

"You are invited to participate"

2001 2h 0m DE

👍

7.4

SOLID

🍅

72%

FRESH

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

7.7

IMDB

★7.4TMDB · 1,277🍅72%Rotten Tomatoes●59Metacritic★7.7IMDB · 97,690

DramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

20 volunteers agree to take part in a seemingly well-paid experiment advertised by the university. It is supposed to be about aggressive behavior in an artificial prison situation. A journalist senses a story behind the ad and smuggles himself in among the test subjects. They are randomly divided into prisoners and guards. What seems like a game at the beginning soon turns into bloody seriousness.

“You are invited to participate”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Cast

Moritz Bleibtreu
Tarek Fahd, Prisoner Nr. 77
Christian Berkel
Robert Steinhoff, Prisoner Nr. 38
Justus von Dohnányi
Berus
Maren Eggert
Dora
Edgar Selge
Professor Dr. Klaus Thon
Andrea Sawatzki
Dr. Jutta Grimm
Oliver Stokowski
Günther Schütte, Prisoner Nr. 82
Wotan Wilke Möhring
Joe Maier, Prisoner Nr. 69

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Writers: Mario Giordano, Don Bohlinger, Christoph Darnstädt
Languages: German
Countries: Germany

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

25 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, shot by Rainer Klausmann. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alexander Bubenheim. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Hans Funck shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Moritz Bleibtreu and Christian Berkel and Justus von Dohnányi carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "You are invited to participate".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0250258 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Oliver Hirschbiegel directs. Rainer Klausmann behind the camera. Alexander Bubenheim scores. Hans Funck cuts. Produced in Germany. Dialogue in German.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

125 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, shot by Rainer Klausmann. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Alexander Bubenheim. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Hans Funck shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Moritz Bleibtreu and Christian Berkel and Justus von Dohnányi carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "You are invited to participate".
7IMDB entry: tt0250258 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 27 themes, including "prison", "journalist", "rape", "prisoner".
9Released under 15 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Rainer Klausmann
Original score: Alexander Bubenheim
Editing: Hans Funck
Production design: Andrea Kessler
Makeup / hair: Mary May
VFX supervisor: Jürgen Schopper
Runtime: 120 min · 2h 0m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $13,782,896
Original language: DE
IMDB: The Experiment (2001)
Rotten Tomatoes: 72% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 59/100
IMDB rating: 7.7/10 · 97,690 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

14 wins & 14 nominations total

Also by

Oliver Hirschbiegel

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-06-04
★ 10/10
Berus V 77, Experiment, Das (2001), amazing experience! So it took me close on 7 years to watch it, so it took me to do a thread about my personal prison based film project on IMDb to get some prompts for this film, I'm just like Novacaine, if you give me time, I get there. Based on the real life Stanford prison experiment in 1971, Das Experiment is a fabulous construction of seams coming apart in the human psyche, the films triumph is that we are never left in any doubt that things are going to go pear shaped from the off, but the fact that it manages to bash you over the head with its bluntness to reinforce the point, is, magnificent story telling. As much as the film disturbs, it is as much an education of the human condition under trying circumstances. Moritz Bleibtreu & Justus von Dohnanyi play Tarek & Berus respectively, with both men giving superlative performances as the two lynch pins to the pic's unravelling terror. This is not merely an experiment, but a test where the results are dangerously grounded in facts, it's bleak, it's at times harsh, but it actually is essential cinema for those looking for a kicker where the boot on the foot is all too real, one that and was once worn by the man next door to you. The rating on some internet sites is a disgrace IMHO, I have drop-kicked Der Untergang over the goal posts to make this my new favourite German film. I probably shouldn't go 10/10 for the film after it has scarred me from ever listening to The Beach Boys classic "Wouldn't It Be Nice" ever again - for now that tune will never seem jolly, it will just serve as a reminder of what a brilliantly bleak film Das Experiment is. 10/10

Production companies