Experimenter
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: October 16, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
81
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleOct 22, 2015
Seemingly loose and free-associative in style, Experimenter builds to an effect and, for all its humor — or rather, through its humor — makes a sober and chilling point. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesSheri LindenOct 15, 2015
Writer-director Michael Almereyda, whose "Hamlet" and "Cymbeline" boldly reimagined Shakespeare, takes a stylized visual approach in Experimenter, with bracing results. Read full review
90
The New York TimesManohla DargisOct 15, 2015
Mr. Almereyda takes Milgram, his work and ideas seriously but doesn’t suffocate them: Despite the story’s freight, the laboratory shocks and Milgram’s insistent melancholia, Experimenter is a nimble, low-frequency high. Read full review
90
Village VoiceMichael AtkinsonOct 13, 2015
The movie is itself a rat-maze of one-sided mirrors, windows upon windows, anonymous hallways, compartmentalized instances of watching, being watched, seeing and not-seeing. Read full review
90
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinOct 8, 2015
Experimenter is busily, thrillingly reflective. Its artificiality makes it seem even more alive, more in the present tense. Read full review
90
VarietyScott FoundasMar 26, 2015
Experimenter offers a heady brew of theories about the essence of human nature, and a Peter Sarsgaard performance that catches Milgram in all his seductive, megalomaniacal brilliance. Read full review
88
Washington PostStephanie MerryOct 22, 2015
Experimenter’s most striking quality is the way it encourages us to think deeply, from the first frame to the last, even if it’s just to consider what on Earth an elephant is doing on screen. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comGodfrey CheshireOct 16, 2015
Orson Welles once described his approach in “Citizen Kane” as “prismatic,” and while there are many differences in subject and style between that cinema milestone and Michael Almereyda’s Experimenter” the two films share a multi-faceted formal playfulness and an essential intellectual seriousness that make them similarly bracing, original and thought-provoking. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianMarc MohanOct 23, 2015
The well-chosen supporting cast — Anthony Edwards as a test subject, Jim Gaffigan as one of Milgram's confederates, and especially Winona Ryder as Milgram's wife — help tremendously to keep The Experimenter humming along as entertainment rather than dry docudrama. Read full review
80
TheWrapTricia OlszewskiOct 20, 2015
Experimenter is a largely engrossing sit, even during an unfortunate moment when Sarsgaard sings and the film threatens to become a musical. But as interesting as the developments are, they’re too inscrutable to stay with you for very long. Read full review
80
The GuardianJordan HoffmanMar 26, 2015
Ultimately, Experimenter finds a glimmer of hope by simply revealing itself. Maybe if more people are educated about the dangers of obedience, they’ll put up more resistance. It can’t hurt to hope. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeMar 26, 2015
Technically puckish where appropriate but grounded by strong performances from Peter Sarsgaard and Winona Ryder, the film is not awards bait but makes some Big Thinker biographies that are look staid. Read full review
80
Screen DailyAnthony KaufmanMar 26, 2015
Almereyda has created an experiment of his own: a kind of cinematic Rorschach test, prodding viewers to consider what they would do if sitting in the same seat as Milgram’s subjects. Read full review
75
Boston GlobePeter KeoughOct 29, 2015
Despite this labyrinthine self-consciousness, the film, like its subject, keeps careful note of dates and places. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloOct 15, 2015
The film bears the subtitle The Stanley Milgram Story, but it’s most effective when it strenuously avoids biopic conventions, focusing intently on the man’s controversial professional life. Read full review
75
New York PostFarran Smith NehmeOct 14, 2015
Ethical objections to Milgram’s work are presented as killing the messenger; well-known issues with his methodology appear not at all. The movie’s an intellectual shock tactic, but it succeeds. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineChuck BowenSep 25, 2015
Aesthetically, the film cunningly suggests life that exists solely within an academic experiment, closed off from chaos that isn't manufactured. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperOct 21, 2015
In a way (and maybe it was a conscious choice), some of Almereyda’s flourishes mirror Milgram’s flamboyance — but in both cases, when you have such a provocative foundation and such rich material to work with, pushing it to the next level isn’t necessarily the best choice. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreOct 6, 2015
Experimenter is a capital example of that prophet-ahead-of-his-time narrative, a movie about a scientist who lived (just) long enough to revel in the fact that he was onto something before everybody else. And that he was right. Read full review
50
The PlaylistKatie WalshMar 26, 2015
While the experiment itself is fascinating, the approach taken by Almereyda in using distractingly peculiar storytelling techniques only succeed in distancing the audience from the film's inspiration. Read full review
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