What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedThe Experiment
Film · 2001
If you loved The Experiment, start with The Wave (Todd Strasser, 1994) — a book on the same thread. Below: 2 books, 4 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to The Experiment across media.
What hooked you in The Experiment was the chilling observation of how quickly ordinary people descend into cruelty when subjected to controlled, high-stakes environments.
Books on the same thread
The Wave
Todd Strasser · Book · 1994
Explores: conformity, groupthink, power.
Much like the power dynamics in The Experiment, this book explores the terrifying ease with which groupthink and manipulation can transform a structured setting into a site of systemic oppression.
Flowers for Algernon
Daniel Keyes · Book · 2004
Explores: Intelligence, Ethics of Science, Human Experimentation.
If the moral decay in The Experiment fascinated you, this story offers a similar look at the ethics of science and how radical human experimentation fundamentally alters an individual's identity.
Series on the same thread
The Prisoner
Patrick McGoohan · Series · 1967
Shares a thread with The Experiment: Psychological Thriller.
This series captures the same feeling of entrapment found in The Experiment, focusing on the psychological breakdown that occurs when an individual is stripped of freedom by an authoritarian system.
Monster
Series · 2004
Explores: Moral Dilemma, Existentialism, Nature vs. Nurture.
This anime mirrors the intense moral dilemmas of The Experiment, forcing you to confront the dark side of human nature as a surgeon faces the consequences of his past actions.
Serial Experiments Lain
Series · 1998
Shares a thread with The Experiment: Psychological Thriller.
Just as the prisoners in The Experiment lose their sense of self, this show examines the disintegration of identity and reality when a person becomes isolated within an experimental environment.
Squid Game
Hwang Dong-hyuk · Series · 2021
Shares a thread with The Experiment: Psychological Thriller.
This series shares the visceral intensity of The Experiment, placing desperate people into a manufactured social game where the breakdown of morality becomes the only way to survive the stakes.
Podcasts on the same thread
The Truth
The Truth · Podcast · 2026
Explores: human condition, experimental storytelling, moral ambiguity.
These audio dramas echo the unsettling atmosphere of The Experiment, using experimental storytelling to examine the human condition and moral ambiguity in ways that challenge your perception of reality.
Criminal
Podcast
Explores: Justice, Wrongful Conviction, Morality.
If you appreciated the focus on human behavior in The Experiment, this podcast provides a grounded look at the complexities of morality and justice in people caught in difficult circumstances.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is The Experiment based on a real-life situation?
The Experiment depicts a scenario where twenty volunteers are divided into prisoners and guards for a university study on aggressive behavior. While the film presents an artificial prison situation, it focuses on the internal escalation of the study rather than documenting a specific historical event.
What is the primary conflict in The Experiment?
The primary conflict in The Experiment occurs when an artificial prison study designed to observe aggressive behavior spirals out of control. What begins as a controlled game between randomly assigned prisoners and guards quickly turns into a situation of bloody seriousness for the test subjects.
Why does the journalist join the study in The Experiment?
In The Experiment, the journalist joins the study because he senses there is a hidden story behind the university advertisement. By smuggling himself in among the test subjects, he aims to investigate the true nature of the experiment from the inside as it unfolds.
How are the test subjects organized in The Experiment?
In The Experiment, the twenty volunteers are randomly divided into two distinct groups consisting of prisoners and guards. This setup is intended to simulate an artificial prison environment to study aggressive behavior, but the power dynamic quickly leads to dangerous and violent consequences for everyone involved.