Netflix Releases Trailer for The New Stanford Prison Experiment

Netflix has released the first trailer for The New Stanford Prison Experiment, an unscripted series, meaning it follows real people rather than actors, that puts 30 volunteers inside a real prison. The participants are divided by chance, with some assigned to live as guards and others assigned to live as prisoners, and no one gets to choose a side. The group numbers 30 in total. The series will debut on Oct. 21, according to Variety.

The trailer shows the starting point, with participants as guards and inmates being transported to a real prison facility to begin the experiment. The focus is on arrival, as the group enters the facility and the experiment gets under way. It is short and sets the premise fast.

Thirty willing participants enter the same real prison. They live under experiment rules for two full weeks, filmed throughout, according to Netflix. Random assignment, meaning a draw decides who guards and who is guarded, removes choice from the equation. The two groups live as guards and prisoners for the duration.

The first season is set as six episodes of 45 minutes each. Six episodes of that length total four and a half hours of television. It is listed as a first season, so the story is contained to that run.

The series is produced by Alfred Street Industries, the production company behind the shoot. Jane Lipsitz, Dan Cutforth, Nan Strait, Dan Volpe, Jeff Grogan and Mike Odair are credited as executive producers, the senior figures who oversee creative decisions and the budget. In unscripted television, that role covers access, staffing and how the filmed material is cut into episodes.

The title comes from a well-known study conducted on the Stanford campus in 1971 and led by psychology professor Philip Zimbardo. The original Stanford Prison Experiment was designed to run for two weeks as an examination of behaviour when ordinary people are given power or placed under control. It was ended after less than a week. Researchers stopped it early after participants assigned as guards began abusing participants assigned as prisoners, alongside other ethical concerns about safety and consent.

What makes this stand out is the setting. The 1971 study used a makeshift set-up on campus, while the new series places volunteers inside a real prison facility for the full period. Same roles on paper. Real walls this time.

For viewers, this means a straightforward diary date. The trailer is out now and the six-part series arrives on Oct. 21. Expect 30 people, two roles decided by chance, and two weeks behind prison walls.