59
Metascore
20 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75Philadelphia InquirerCarrie RickeyPhiladelphia InquirerCarrie RickeyBecause the confrontations between power and powerlessness are so dramatic and because Hirschbiegel's editing is so emphatic, Das Experiment is practically over before you realize that you don't know what its point is, exactly.
- 75Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertWhat impressed me is how effective the movie was, even though the outcome is a foregone conclusion. That's a tribute to the director, Oliver Hirschbiegel, and the actors, who have been chosen with the same kind of typecasting that perhaps occurs in life.
- 75San Francisco ChronicleJonathan CurielSan Francisco ChronicleJonathan CurielDisturbing film.
- 70Los Angeles TimesKevin ThomasLos Angeles TimesKevin ThomasAs an exploitation picture, Das Experiment is mindlessly potent; subtitles are no guarantee of sophistication and subtlety.
- 70VarietyDerek ElleyVarietyDerek ElleyA solid slice of entertainment without reaching the psychological depths promised by the subject matter.
- 60The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottIt's empty calories trying to trumpet its bogus nutritional value, and the strain for social importance undermines the picture.
- 60Washington PostWashington PostThe film's hysterically pitched action overshadows its more subtle psychological points.
- 50New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanEventually any serious statement is lost in a sea of sadism, as he forces us to watch scene after scene of gruesome, humiliating torture.
- 42Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanRigid, airless, and browbeatingly repetitive, Das Experiment is an overly didactic piece of thesis hectoring; it's like ''Lord of the Flies'' set in a Skinner box.
- 30L.A. WeeklyHazel-Dawn DumpertL.A. WeeklyHazel-Dawn DumpertToo much of a mess to say anything with assurance, pieced together as it is from mismatched institutional movies such as "Cool Hand Luke" and "Shock Corridor" -- with "Lord of the Flies" thrown in for good measure -- and turning on plot points that simply don't wash.