Since many of the men in the study haven’t been extensively interviewed, the National Geographic series does say something new, a feat, given there have been a number of films — some good, some bad — focused on the subject. Eisner balances those personal reflections with one of Zimbardo’s final interviews.

Nat Geo’s program is, unfortunately, grim in its lowest-common-denominator presentation. It’s funny, because many of the commentators suggest that the footage recorded of the experiment is an ancestor to modern reality television. Yet Unlocking the Truth has a similar grammar to an average episode of Real Housewives. The first chapter simply retells the tale of what happened as we all know it.