You are here:

The Experiment

Name: The Experiment
Director: Louise Friedberg
Released: 2010
Duration: 96 min

Representation Score

5.2/10

Fair

2010

Director

Louise Friedberg

Runtime

96 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

New Showbiz Analysis

The film serves as a clinical study of social psychology, focusing on the breakdown of authority structures. It excels in critiquing systemic issues and the instability of social order, offering a sophisticated view of moral relativism. However, the film lacks demographic diversity. It does not engage with LGBTQ+ identities, disabilities, or significant racial diversity, leading to a narrower focus on generalized human behavior rather than overlapping identities.

Watch this, not that →

Category Breakdown

Does The Experiment have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

The film operates within a framework that assumes everyone is straight or cisgender. There is no presence of diverse sexual orientations or gender identities.

How does The Experiment portray gender?

Fair

The film features both male and female characters, but men tend to hold the most powerful and authoritative positions. Gender roles play a larger part than individual gender identities.

How racially and ethnically diverse is The Experiment?

Limited

The cast is primarily composed of individuals from similar racial backgrounds, lacking significant diversity. Race and ethnicity are not used as primary lenses for analyzing power dynamics.

How does The Experiment represent religion and culture?

Good

The film provides a nuanced critique of institutional power and social order. It demonstrates how situational ethics can quickly replace established norms within a controlled setting.

Does The Experiment include disability representation?

Minimal

The film does not address visible or invisible disabilities. Characters are consistently portrayed as able-bodied throughout the psychological experiment.

Present on Screen

Sophisticated critique of institutional power and systemic structures.
Compelling exploration of how situational ethics replace social norms.
Effective deconstruction of the stability of Western social institutions.

Limited or Absent

Lack of diversity in race and ethnicity.
Absence of LGBTQ+ representation or narratives.
Minimal engagement with physical or neurodivergent disabilities.

Official Synopsis

THE EXPERIMENT is the story of the nurse Gert, who is appointed as headmistress of a special children's home, owned by the Danish state in Greenland, 1951. The children's home is intended to accommodate 16 carefully selected Greenlandic children, who have just come home after a year of civilization in Denmark. Now they are to be introduced into the Greenlandic community as role models. Gert, who lives alone and has no family, accepts the assignment with pride. She is idealistic and ambitious and feels passionate about saving Greenland from destitution. The means to this end is to educate and civilize the 16 children in the Danish language and culture, so they can spearhead Greenland's transformation from being a poor hunter society to being an equal part of Denmark. Due to her blind faith in the experiment, Gert underestimates the obvious personal costs to the children. And when the children as well as the Danish state fail her...

How are these scores produced? →