The New Stanford Prison Experiment Review
Date Created: 2026-10-21 16:22
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The New Stanford Prison Experiment Review: Produced by Jane Lipsitz and Dan Cutforth, Netflix’s reality series brings 30 participants into a real county correctional facility in Georgia to examine how people respond to authority, power, and institutional hierarchy. The participants include Kiana Goana, who takes on the role of a guard, alongside Jackson Sharp, Pete Zaremba, Nicholas Washington, Josh Hublitz, Michael Correra, Laura Berens, Chris Lee, Bobby Gray, Shavonnah Jefferson and others.
In the six-episode series, Netflix attempts to recreate the Stanford Prison Experiment that was criticised for the experiment’s design, with participants split into guards and prisoners while a behavioural psychologist, an ex-federal correctional officer and a journalist watch proceedings from the outside.
The New Stanford Prison Experiment Review
The idea behind Netflix’s The New Stanford Prison Experiment is simple enough. Thirty volunteers come into the prison environment and are arbitrarily allocated into guards or prisoners. Eight people end up becoming guards, whereas 22 men get themselves into the position of prisoners. The guards will be provided with grey clothing and have the ability to create rules for the prisoners. They will be returning to a hotel after each shift. Meanwhile, the prisoners will be wearing yellow clothing and sleeping in uncomfortable bunk beds.
There are curfews and everyday activities that they need to deal with. On top of that, there are additional complications that are introduced to the experiment. For example, the election of a head guard, day-night shift division, and even changing places in the middle of the experiment are included in the setup. However, what is really important is whether the participants will adapt to the positions that are allotted to them or keep their individuality.
The biggest flaw in Netflix series The New Stanford Prison Experiment is the fact that it does not convince me at any point that I am watching a genuine psychological experiment and not a reality show desperately trying to generate some drama. The premise itself is promising. It can shed light on how humans would behave if placed in a situation where some are given authority over others and whether they will choose to conform, rebel, or be kind to each other.
Nevertheless, the show focuses so much on whether power corrupts that it seems to forget about making the experience exciting. All that time, I was waiting for the participants to immerse themselves in their characters, but this awareness of being part of a television show was getting in the way.
The guards are especially significant in this experiment because their conduct is supposed to affect the perception of the prisoners regarding authority. However, rather than witnessing an intriguing change in the way the participants treat one another, I witnessed only attempts to carry out tasks assigned to them in the best possible manner without creating extra problems. The experts who observe this experiment seem to have expected a much more ruthless display of conduct, but it does not happen at all times.
There are those guards who seem to care more about conducting themselves in such a way as to create a functional environment rather than using their authority for fun. This may very well be a very intriguing outcome of a real behavioural experiment, but not enough attention is paid to this aspect on the program. One of the more intriguing elements is the discrepancy among the prisoners themselves. People react to the set rules differently. While some of them would like to defy the prison guards and see what can happen in case they disobey them, others would prefer to accept the current state of things and just get through the time spent there.
This difference in attitudes could have been turned into the most appealing element of the entire project because it poses an actual question: how would people react once put in an unjust hierarchy of powers? Do they unite in their resistance to that system, or do they dispute the very necessity to defy those rules? Alas, the confrontation remained rather superficial, turning into a mere argument between the participants on how this show should go.
The female guard, however, was a bright side of the show as well. The way she leads is an excellent example of how one can have power without becoming a bully or someone controlling and harsh. The fact that there is such a character who is not evil or mean makes it possible for the series to introduce the idea that maybe the point of the story is not to demonstrate how power corrupts but to show how people will use the given power. However, the series still does not manage to persuade viewers of its main ideas.
The head guard and the difference between day shift and night shift are supposed to add even more tension to the story. The various teams handle things differently, resulting in arguments about how the prison is run. Finally, the choice to change some of the participants’ roles and turn guards into prisoners and vice versa is an interesting point to see how people react to being put in a completely different position.
In theory, it is one of the best revelations possible because someone who was used to having power will have a whole new perspective on the regulations after experiencing the other side. However, it seems more like some sort of reality show twist rather than the development of the experiment. When people don’t like the way things are handled, they just quit.
This leads me to my next weakness in the program, which is how low the stakes are. There is no competition to be won, no process of being weeded out, and no prize that motivates participants to stay involved when it gets hard. Participants can quit, and several choose to do just that. I am aware that participants need to be free to leave the experiment if they no longer want to participate, but as far as a television program is concerned, it is hard for the program to gain momentum with their constant quitting. Every time there is a beginning of conflict, all momentum is lost before anything comes of it.
The six-episode structure of Netflix Reality series The New Stanford Prison Experiment seems to be somewhat unnecessary as well. Routines seem to be quite monotonous, the comments tend to rehash material that the audience has been previously exposed to, and the commentary of the experts is often not that enlightening either. I needed the observers to provide some insight about my perception of the participants’ behaviour, but sometimes it seemed as though their comments were completely out of context with the fact that everybody was aware of the filming process. It is not just the prisoners and guards. They are people who signed up for a reality show, and this must affect their behaviour.
Netflix The New Stanford Prison Experiment Review: Summing Up
Overall, the 2026 The New Stanford Prison Experiment was disappointing in my opinion, since it offers a promising idea yet does not make it an appealing reality show. I liked those scenes which contradicted the stereotype about authority implying brutality, specifically the one where there is a more moderate attitude toward leadership. Unfortunately, such episodes are not sufficient in order to overshadow the repetitive plot, artificial suspense and lack of development. What I expected to see was a closer view of people’s attitudes towards issues of power, subordination and disobedience, but instead the show seemed to wait for something to happen.
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