Matt Oakes Silver Screen Riot Oct 14, 2026 D+

Those wanting a deeper look into the life of Stanley Milgram ought look somewhere else as 'Experimenter' is essentially devoid of drama.

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David Thomson Film Comment Magazine Nov 6, 2024

This movie seems a radical step for Almereyda, and more attentive to the nature of the medium than anything he has attempted before.

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Sean Axmaker Stream on Demand May 6, 2023

[Director Michael] Almereyda wants us to be aware that this is a fiction even as he explores the ideas with great intelligence and the life of Milgram with curiosity.

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Vadim Rizov Filmmaker Magazine Jan 23, 2023

This career overview is the surface text of Experimenter, and it’s a fascinating one; what’s going on formally is even more interesting.

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Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review May 3, 2022 3.5/4

The result may leave some viewers emotionally cold toward the material, but our intellect is engaged in the engrossing subject and the absorbing way it was made.

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Michael J. Casey Michael J. Cinema Aug 17, 2021 3/5

A noble attempt, but fails to put its finger on the unexplainable.

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Andrew F. Peirce The Curb Apr 4, 2020

What writer/director Michael Almereyda manages to create with Experimenter is an interesting look at the way Milgram's experiments worked through the eyes of cinema.

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Debbie Lynn Elias Behind The Lens Nov 29, 2019

A perfect blend of performance art, cinema and the science of psychology, the result is thought-provoking, profound, and beyond intelligently entertaining.

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C.J. Prince Way Too Indie Jun 3, 2019

Almereyda's direction is nothing short of brilliant here in the way it channels the spirit of Milgram into its own conception.

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Mae Abdulbaki Movies with Mae Apr 5, 2019 1.5/5

Bland and monotonous, Experimenter is certainly a forgettable film.

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Bernard Boo Way Too Indie Feb 28, 2019 7.5/10

It's a strange, unsettling, but almost playful experience watching Sarsgaard watch us. It's this mischievousness that makes the film, one of the more unique, oddly entertaining things you'll find at the cinema this fall.

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Daniel Barnes Dare Daniel Feb 5, 2019 2.5/5

The film works better when crafting its own experiments in social embarrassment, such as the scene where Milgram argues about his work with an Abe Lincoln impersonator, as opposed to the stuffy book report that dominates the final hour.

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Pat Padua Spectrum Culture Aug 28, 2018 4/5

A fascinating, provocative film about movies and illusion.

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Noemi Berkowitz Seventh Row Aug 14, 2017

Experimenter jumps from one style to another so much we don't know what world it's really set in.

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Ernesto Diezmartinez Cine Vértigo Jun 12, 2017

A traditional biopic about Milgram played by a perfect Peter Sarsgaard, between melancholy and boredom. [Full review in Spanish]

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Jonathan Stevenson Brooklyn Magazine Dec 9, 2016

Experimenter is not only an inventive exploration of the life and personality of an offbeat and perhaps misunderstood intellectual; it is also an exposition of his relentlessly probing mind and jarring revelations.

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Molly Laich Vanguard Seattle Dec 4, 2016

Slight but intellectually entertaining.

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Kaya Payseno Bust Magazine Oct 5, 2016

You'll find yourself wondering if PBS has a documentary you could watch instead (at least then you'll feel smarter).

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Daniel de Partearroyo Cinemanía (Spain) Aug 22, 2016 3.5/5

Tries to avoid the cliches of biopics but lacks spark and cleverness. [Full review in Spanish]

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Eric Melin Scene-Stealers.com May 31, 2016 3.5/4

... one of the best and most overlooked films of the year ...

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