Experimenter: The Stanley Milgram Story also known as theExperimenter, is a 2015 Americanbiographical drama film written, directed and co-produced byMichael Almereyda. It depicts theMilgram experiment in 1961 by social psychologistStanley Milgram. The film, co-produced by and starringDanny A. Abeckaser, also starsPeter Sarsgaard,Winona Ryder,Jim Gaffigan,Kellan Lutz,Dennis Haysbert,Anthony Edwards,Lori Singer,Josh Hamilton,Anton Yelchin,John Leguizamo.

Experimenter: The Stanley Milgram Story
The theatrical release poster
Directed by	Michael Almereyda
Written by	Michael Almereyda
Produced by	Uri Singer Fabio Golombek Aimee Schoof Isen Robbins Danny A. Abeckaser Per Melita Joseph White Michael Almereyda
Starring	Peter Sarsgaard Winona Ryder Jim Gaffigan Edoardo Ballerini John Palladino Kellan Lutz Dennis Haysbert Danny A. Abeckaser Taryn Manning Anthony Edwards Lori Singer Josh Hamilton Anton Yelchin Adriana L. Randall Donnie Keshawarz Vondie Curtis-Hall John Leguizamo
Cinematography	Ryan Samul
Edited by	Kathryn J. Schubert
Music by	Bryan Senti
Production companies	BB Film Productions FJ Productions Intrinsic Value Films Jeff Rice Films 2B Productions
Distributed by	Magnolia Pictures Bleiberg Entertainment (present, Non-US)
Release dates	January 25, 2015 (2015-01-25) (2015 Sundance Film Festival) October 16, 2015 (2015-10-16) (U.S.)
Running time	98 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	US$224,145 (Worldwide)[2]

The film is based on the true story of famed social psychologistStanley Milgram, who in 1961 conducted a series ofradical behavior experiments atYale University that tested the willingness of ordinary humans to obey an authority figure while administering electric shocks to strangers. In the first half of the film, it is shown how the experiments are conducted, with nearly every test subject succumbing to the pressure of the circumstances and administering shocks to a stranger, despite the stranger begging him to stop. Between the experiments, it is shown how Milgram meets Alexandra (or Sasha), who will become his wife and mother of two children.

The second half of the film shows how Milgram struggles with the public outcry about the ethics of the experiments and how his career advances as he becomes a professor in New York City and continues to study social interactions and social pressure in more benign experimental settings, including thesmall-world experiment, thelost-letter experiment, the street-corner (or gawking) experiment, thefamiliar stranger experiment, and various experiments that he makes his students carry out.

Archive footage occurs frequently, either as recordings that Milgram watches or as a backdrop for entire scenes. Milgram's work continues until he dies from a heart attack at the age of 51. In the final scene, the street-corner experiment is repeated in the present day, with a cameo of the real-life Sasha Milgram. In a mid-credits scene, more archival footage is shown.

Although directorMichael Almereyda was aware of Milgram's work, it wasn't until his girlfriend began taking a class on him that Almereyda became interested. Subsequently, he found himself reading Milgram'sObedience to Authority: An Experimental View.^[4] According to Almereyda once he started reading "[he] instantly saw how filmable it was" becoming increasingly interested in making it into a film the more he went on.^[4] In filming, Almereyda wanted it to be "playful" in nature as he felt that's how Stanley Milgram himself would have made it.^[4]

Almereyda decided to have Milgram break thefourth wall based on viewing films of his in which Milgram would talk to the camera, reminding him ofRod Serling orAlfred Hitchcock.^[5] From this Almereyda figured having the character talk to the camera "seemed natural and in fact essential to include that in the movie."^[5] On May 13, 2014,Peter Sarsgaard andWinona Ryder joined the cast.^[6] On June 30,Kellan Lutz,Taryn Manning,Anton Yelchin,Anthony Edwards, andEdoardo Ballerini joined the cast.^[7]Principal photography began on June 5, 2014, in New York City.^[8]

The film premiered at theSundance Film Festival on January 25, 2015.^[9] On March 26, 2015,Magnolia Pictures acquired distribution rights to the film.^[10] The film was released on October 16, 2015, in alimited release and throughvideo on demand.^[11]

Experimenter received positive reviews. OnRotten Tomatoes, the film holds an 85% approval rating based on 80 reviews, with an average rating of 7.20/10. The consensus reads: "Led by a gripping performance from Peter Sarsgaard,Experimenter uses a fact-based story to pose thought-provoking questions about human nature."^[12] OnMetacritic, the film has a score of 81 out of 100 calculated from 20 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".^[13]

• The Tenth Level

• Experimenter atIMDb
• Experimenter atBox Office Mojo
• Experimenter atRotten Tomatoes
• Experimenter atMetacritic