The Experiment (2010) Hey what’s up guys. Today I’ll show you a
Psychological and Drama film: “The Experiment”! Spoiler ahead, watch out and take care!
The movie begins with Travis, and an elderly patient having a good time playing shuffleboard.
Travis works part-time at a retirement home. Once they’re done, Travis hands over some
pills for the elderly patient to take, before reporting to his boss. Unbeknownst to him,
devastating news is waiting for him. Later, the boss informs Travis that he is being laid off,
due to the state’s cross-cutting effort to lessen personnel. Since he works there part-time,
he’s one of those that are let go. On a different occasion, Travis and his
friend join a group of protesters, calling for the American troops to be sent home from the war
in the middle east. Travis is a pacifist hipster and believes in non-violence.
When Travis returns home, he reads a very enticing advertisement in the newspaper, for a Behavioral
Experiment that pays a thousand dollars per day to participate. That’s impossible to resist,
especially for an unemployed person like him. The experiment is said to last for two weeks. So that
means 14 thousand, easy money for Travis. Soon after, Travis goes to apply; and just
as expected, there are hundreds of applicants. While filling out a form to join the experiment,
Barris, another participant, sits beside Travis, introduces himself; and the two get along well.
Barris lives with his mom, and has a timid personality. He’s soft-spoken,
and seems like a religious person. Moments later, Doctor, the person responsible
for the experiment, explains to them that the purpose of the experiment is to simulate the
conditions of life inside a penitentiary. all applicants must have no prior experience being
incarcerated. This has to be the first time they experience being isolated or jailed,
for the program to be effective. The Doctor then interviews one applicant at a time,
to see if the experiment fits their profile. Meanwhile, Travis passes the initial screening,
moves on to the next stage, and is tasked to watch some violent footage.
He experiences different kinds of emotions, as the footage shifts from genre to genre. He’s able to
make it, and move on to the next assignment. All the participants arrive at the rendezvous
point. A bus then takes them to a remote facility in the middle of a cornfield.
Before the experiment begins, the Doctor briefs them that some of the participants will have no
civil rights during the experiment, and if some want to leave, now is their chance. Nobody appears
to back down at this point. They are all excited about what lies ahead. The doctor then adds that
to ensure everyone is safe, the experiment will be terminated in case of violence.
The group of applicants is then divided into 2 different teams, the prisoners and the guards.
Barris joins five others, and is tasked by the Doctor to become the prison guards.
While Travis is with the other group, who will become the prisoners. Their number is around
twenty. The facility is filled with high-tech cameras, monitoring them every day for 24 hours.
The prison guards are told to ensure that rules are implemented; and punishments are imposed
adequately inside the facility; otherwise, they will not get paid. That announcement of a chance
not to get paid is a surprise, as it was not explained before. However, it’s too late now
for them to back up. The game is on. The prisoners line up after taking a
shower. Chase, one of the guards, reads the rules out loud for them to strictly follow.
The prisoners seem to be dismissive of the rules. Later, the prisoners are then tasked
to find their individual cells, which they will be staying in the following days.
Later, Travis shares a cell with Nix, who seems to be so calm, and not bothered by the idea of being
in prison; and Benjy, a graphic novelist who is thrilled to get some material from the experiment.
He is diabetic, but chose to hide this to test himself inside.
While playing basketball, one of the inmates, Old Man, accidentally hits the beardy face of one of
the guards, named Beardy. His nose is bloodied. Old Man intended to pass the ball as a friendly
gesture; but the pass is too strong for the prison guard to react. Chase suggests that they devise a
punishment, as prisoners are not supposed to touch them. Beardy insists that he is fine, and that it
was an accident. Besides, the prisoner did not physically touch him, as the ball hit his nose.
Barris agrees with Beardy as well; but Chase is adamant. Chase reasons that taking no action
might end the experiment; and all of them will not get paid. Chase then punishes Old Man by
having him do 10 push-ups. The Old Man begs for consideration as it was not intentional;
and he is old with a knee injury. This does not sit well with Chase; and as a result,
everyone is punished. That sets the tone on the first day; and the mood is starting to shift.
The 2nd day starts with the Prisoners having a meal. Besides Nix, everyone is disgusted by the
food, especially the beans. When they line up to return their plates, Helweg, one of the guards,
notices that they all did not touch the beans. he asks them that they are required to finish all the
food, before returning the plates. However, Travis drops the food into Helweg’s hand;
and everyone follows suit, throwing their food all over the place as a way to protest.
The guards secretly gather to come up with a sanction. They need to be in control;
or the experiment might end soon; and they won’t get paid. Barris suggests they go through with a
punishment; otherwise, the prisoners will never respect them. Barris indicates that instead of
using violence, they humiliate the inmates. Later, the prison guards use fire extinguishers,
and spray every cell to shake everybody up. Barris and the others handcuffs and
confronts their primary target, Travis, for inciting the inmates earlier. Barris then warns
all the prisoners to never disrespect them. Once the guards are back to their stations,
Barris is gratified by the sense of authority and power he just felt. That is exhilarating for him;
and he wants more of the same feeling. On the 3rd day, Barris gathers all the prisoners,
and reminds them to abide by the rules, so they can all go home with their money,
once the experiment is done. He notices that Benjy is not with them. It turns out, Benjy is still on
the bed, and too weak to move. He is diabetic and requires insulin. Barris forces Benjy to
join the rest of the prisoners, which irritates Travis, as Benjy is clearly too sick to stand.
Travis then confronts Barris, and tells him to be rational. Barris didn’t not like the idea of
his authority being questioned. And so, he grabs a baton, and is ready to take a swing at Travis.
Fortunately, the other guards separate the two, before the situation goes out of control.
Back in their cells, Travis begins to question the purpose of the experiment. Nix tells him
that the goal is to find out who’ll survive in a dire situation. It’s the survival of the fittest.
Travis questions Nix if he has been in prison before, because of his knowledge of what it’s
like, and the Aryan tattoo he has. Nix warns him to stop asking questions. He then advises
Travis to go along with the experiment, and stop acting like a hero by trying to save Benjy.
Late at night, the guards decide to scare Travis, as they are threatened by his rebellious
tendencies. While sleeping, the guards drag Travis away from his cell, and take him to
an interrogation room, where he is tied to a chair. Travis cannot believe what’s happening.
This is supposed to be just an experiment; and violence is not supposed to be tolerated.
Barris then asks Helweg to shave Travis’s head. Afterward, Barris warns him to show some respect
to the authorities. Sensing that Travis refuses to back down, Barris kicks and pisses on him.
This is his way of showing dominance. He then encourages the other guards to do the same thing.
From then on, Barris is no longer the same person. He finds his authority rather compelling, and
tends to abuse it profoundly. As of that moment, he is the self-proclaimed leader of the guards.
After getting Travis back to his cell, Beardy expresses his disappointment at what
just happened, and warns Barris that if it happens again, he’s out.
After a meal, Travis saves his bread, and shares it with Benjy, who is now in terrible shape.
Benjy reveals that he needs more than just a piece of bread, but insulin.
Benjy also shares that he purposely hid the fact that he’s diabetic, thinking that everything would
be okay. His plan was to tough it out; but it now backfires on him. Benjy is in desperate
need of insulin; and the only way for that is if someone retrieves the medicine from his bag.
Later that night, Travis offers Beardy one thousand dollars, then two thousand dollars of
his own money, for Beardy to retrieve the insulin from Benjy’s bag. Beardy walks away, saying he
does not need the money, but decides to do it anyway, as he also feels bad for Benjy. Beardy
then begins to look for Benjy’s bag, without noticing the camera monitoring his every move.
Meanwhile, unable to control his manly urges, Chase grabs one of the prisoners,
and takes him to another room, where he forces the prisoner to pleasure him. The prisoner refuses to,
and curses at Chase. But the larger prison guard then holds the poor prisoner’s chick neck,
and puts him against the wall. Suddenly, Barris walks in, before the dirty deed can
begin. Chase tells Barris that the prisoner has something to report about Travis,
as an excuse for the peculiar incident. Afraid to get hurt, the prisoner plays along with Chase.
Not soon after, Helweg calls the attention of Barris, and shows that Beardy is in the
storage room getting Benjy’s insulin. Barris then confronts Beardy, and asks him to surrender what
he retrieved from that room. Barris confiscates the insulin, and asks Beardy who convinced him
to do that. Given the predicament, Beardy is left with no choice but to rat on Travis.
Eventually, Barris gives the insulin to Benjy in his cell, but warns Travis that they need to talk
about it. Barris finds it insulting that Travis persuaded Beardy to betray his authority.
Later, Barris shaves his head, in an effort to convince Travis that he’s reasonable. Barris then
confronts Travis in the bathroom about what he did. Travis explains that Benjy could have died,
if he didn’t do that. Barris does not believe that Benjy’s condition is that serious. Barris
reasons out that they are being monitored 24 hours a day, and that he’s confident that the experiment
administrators wouldn’t let them have someone dying, or the experiment would be terminated.
For breaking the rules, Barris asked Travis to clean the toilet as a punishment. When Travis
refuses to, Helweg grabs Travis’ head, and puts his face against the toilet bowl. He’s
then forced to say that he is a prisoner. But Travis still refuses to; Helweg then pushes
his face repeatedly, until Travis gives in. Late into the night, Barris wakes up Beardy,
and then takes him to a room where the other guards are waiting. Beardy begs them not to
hurt him; but they have already premeditated the beating. The guards then beat Beardy into
a pulp. Afterward, he is introduced to the prisoners as prisoner number 76.
Barris is getting a different high from his power, and starts yapping about rules and whatnot.
Travis removes his prison uniform, while Barris is talking. Barris then asks Travis
to put on the uniform back; but Travis refuses to back down; and the rest of the prisoners,
except Nix, do the same thing as a means of protest. Travis then climbs up the prison wall,
speaks to the camera, and begs to open the gate. The situation inside is clearly getting out of
hand. Now should be the best time to sound the alarm, and declare that the experiment is over.
While Barris is confronting Travis, Benjy musters up the courage to step in, and punch
Barris at the back of his head. In response, Barris knocks out Benjy, using his baton.
The tension is at an all-time high at this point. All the prisoners are now punished, while Travis
is put in an isolation chamber. Despite the total darkness, Travis looks for a camera and speaks
through it, questioning why the experiment has not been stopped when there’s chaos.
Clearly, this is not what they signed up for. Meanwhile, Chase is about to rape the prisoner he
took to a room earlier. Travis can hear the prisoner crying, and is determined to get
out of the chamber. His efforts bear fruit as Travis opens the chamber, using the amulet that
Blonde gave before the experiment. Travis then follows the sound of the prisoner’s voice, and
catches Chase on the verge of raping him. Travis punches him in the face. The prisoner then puts
his handcuff around his neck, and chokes Chase unconscious. Travis uncuffs him afterward, and
checks on the prisoner. Next, Travis comes across Nix, who is also handcuffed. He asks him if he
still wants to go along or join them. Nix, who has been passive all this time, chooses to join them.
Nix also had enough of the guards’ abuses, and prefers to fight rather than die a dog’s death.
Immediately, Travis checks on a badly beaten Benjy, and finds out that Benjy is now dead. But
before the surveillance system, the doctor and his experiment team are nowhere to be found. The rest
of the prisoners gather around; and they are ready to take matters into their own hands. With one
of their own dead, the prisoners want blood. Later, Helweg notifies Barris that the prisoners
are now gearing up to attack them. Barris still refuses to acknowledge that everything is out of
his control. He wants the guards to confront the prisoners, but is reminded that they are being
outnumbered. Barris still wants to hold on to the idea that the prisoners are scared of them.
As the prisoners are about to break the door that separates them from the guards,
Helweg decides to abandon Barris. The rest of the guards follow and run for their lives.
Sensing that his life is in danger, Barris also tries to escape.
The prisoners catch up with the guards; and an all-out brawl begins. The prisoners begin
to beat up the guards, while Travis has his eyes on Barris. Travis is no longer himself.
He used to believe in a peaceful resolution; but after all the abuses he and the other
prisoners went through, now is the time to break even. Travis takes a swing at Barris;
but Barris manages to block the punch, and stabs Travis with a knife. Fortunately, Travis catches
the blade with his hand, and removes the blade stuck in his hand. Nix then takes Barris down,
and is about to beat him up. But in a state of bloodlust, Travis pushes Nix away, and then goes
on to mount Barris. There, Travis unleashes brutal punches, until he hears the sound of the alarm,
signaling that the experiment is over. Reality kicks in; and everyone stops
fighting as the gate opens. They suddenly remember that all of it was an experiment;
and they shouldn’t have been fighting in the first place. The prisoners and the guards start to exit
the site, traumatized by what just happened. On the bus, they receive the promised payment.
Travis and Barris are lost for words, and can just look at each other.
The movie ends with the Doctor, who is responsible for the psychological experiment, is arrested for
manslaughter. Benjy died due to the recklessness of the experiment; and many more could have died.
It also shows Travis and Beardy being interviewed, stating their desire to testify.
This’s Daniel CC movie channel! stay safe and enjoy your day!