If you’ve ever taken a psychology class, you’ve likely heard of the famous experiment conducted by Stanley Milgram: he put two individuals in separate rooms, and told one (the teacher) to ask the other (the learner) a series of multiple choice questions. If the learner got the answer wrong, the teacher was to apply a shock of electricity that increased with each incorrect response. What the teacher didn’t know was that he/she was not actually electrocuting anyone--the learner was in fact in on the experiment.

And you know what? A significant majority of individuals went along with the experiment through the end, even after the learner pleaded for them to stop.

It’s a rather revealing look inside the human mind, at what motivates us and what causes otherwise normal people to do horrific things because "someone told them to."

Too bad the new drama Experimenter isn’t nearly as fascinating.

While the movie, which stars Peter Skarsgaard as Milgram and Winona Ryder as his dutiful wife (did she marry him because he told her to? BOOM, mind blown!), begins interestingly enough by showing the experiment unfold, it quickly runs out of steam. The stuff about the experiment is fascinating--the stuff about Milgram the person is not. The drama is nonexistent, the narrative bland and aimless.

To properly give Milgram his dues, Experimenter would have been better served focusing on the ramifications of his study’s findings, not the psychologist himself. Writer/director Michael Almereyda attempts to do both at the same time, but sadly the only thing that would have kept me focused is a high voltage shock.

Review by Erik Samdahl.