The Stanford Prison Experiment poster

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Streaming data from JustWatch

The Stanford Prison Experiment

2015 · Movie · 122 min
C

MEANRANK

70/100

Averaged across 11 ratings · 153.3K votes

Every rating

Platform pages last read 29 September 2026. IMDb’s figure comes from IMDb’s own data file, which we re-read about once a month.

Google: Google retired the star ratings it used to show in search results, so this one no longer updates. More on where the numbers come from →

51–84 out of 100

Split

Lowest is Criticker on 51, highest is Rotten Tomatoes critics on 84.

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College students volunteer for a two-week psychological study on prison life, randomly assigned to be either guards or prisoners. The experiment rapidly escalates as those given power become increasingly abusive and those subjected to it suffer psychological trauma, revealing how quickly individuals can adapt to destructive roles in a controlled environment.

Details

Based on
The Lucifer Effect by Philip Zimbardo
Released
17 July 2015
Country
United States
Language
English
Runtime
122 min
Rated
R
Box office
$643.6K
Awards
2 wins, 1 nomination

This title elsewhere

Billy Crudup

Billy Crudup

Dr. Philip Zimbardo

Michael Angarano

Michael Angarano

Christopher Archer

Ezra Miller

Ezra Miller

Daniel Culp / Prisoner 8612

Tye Sheridan

Tye Sheridan

Peter Mitchell / Prisoner 819

Olivia Thirlby

Olivia Thirlby

Dr. Christina Maslach

Nelsan Ellis

Nelsan Ellis

Jesse Fletcher

Moisés Arias

Moisés Arias

Anthony Carroll

Nicholas Braun

Nicholas Braun

Karl Vandy

Awards & nominations

See all 3 →

2 major awards won · 2 wins from 3 nominations across 1 ceremony

31st Sundance Film Festival 2015 Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize Kyle Patrick Alvarez and Tim Talbott Winner
31st Sundance Film Festival 2015 Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award (U.S. Dramatic) Tim Talbott Winner
31st Sundance Film Festival 2015 Grand Jury Prize (U.S. Dramatic) Kyle Patrick Alvarez and Tim Talbott Nominee

Awards from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.