In 2015, there were two films released about social psychological experiments conducted in US which confirmed our worst nightmares about human behavior. Chances are you, like me, only knew about one of them when the films opened in theaters: The Stanford Experiment, but if I had known about Experimenter, I would have happily gone to the theater to see the far superior film.
Experimenter: The Stanley Milgram Story, also known as Experimenter masterfully contains two tales: Stanley Milgram’s life and his experiments, including and starting with his most famous when a subject believes he or she is administering increasingly high voltage of electric shocks on a stranger in another room. Experimenter simultaneously challenges and praises Milgram by questioning the ethical nature of his experiments and asserting that people, including Milgram, can become subject to the agentic state. I believe that a second viewing would reveal even more about the nature of life and how challenging it is to live life well while living it-hindsight is 20/20.
Even as a character, Stanley Milgram does not get frustrated or raise his voice, but comments on the psycho-sociological dynamics as he lives it. His manner or the film’s self-aware narrative does not mean that he and the film are not passionate. Indeed Milgram is passionate and engaging as a character even when he expresses discomfort at receiving unwanted social overtures from students or former subjects. Milgram is compelled by personal family history and his present choices towards love to continue his work.
Experimenter is a contemplative film that feels more like a textured meditative play with rear-screen projection, literal elephants in the room and the titular omniscient character breaks the fourth wall and stops being in a character in the film and becomes a commentator. Experimenter is also notable for casually having a remarkable and notable cast that may only be on screen for minutes, but pack a huge punch in a brief time. I would not be surprised if the director, Michael Almereyda, who may be better known for making Nadja (saw it in the theaters because vampires, but wasn’t really into it) and Hamlet starring Ethan Hawke (one of my favorite adaptations) used Experimenter to incidentally comment on the nature of entertainment: why do we make or consume certain things, what is the affect of participating knowingly or not, how does reviewing affect a performance, etc.
I highly recommend Experimenter as must see viewing, especially for anyone who saw The Stanford Prison Experiment, but wouldn’t mind something a little more nuanced and sophisticated.