User reviews

So I've just watched Derren Brown: The Push... For my fellow social psychology enthusiasts, I can only describe this "documentary" as a 'Thrill-Seeker-Reality-TV show by a modern day Stanley Milgram'.

Seriously, this was a border-lining ethical nightmare. There is such a massive potential of residual psychological distress/damage for the participants... particularly if there is no on-going support or counseling to combat guilt and/or doubt of their core morals and character.

All this under the guise of teaching society to think before blindly following (or believing) the "Man"?

Hmmmmmm.

Derren Brown is incredible at what he does. I am a fan of pretty much anything he has done. This feature is very interesting and entertaining. My only real criticism is that there isn't much of Derren performing his own illusions. He obviously designed the experiment and keeps it on the right track. His job in this is mostly limited to presenting and narrating. You don't really get to see him perform very much. For this reason, I would not say it is his best release. However, the concept of the experiment is very interesting and it is executed very well. He basically figured out a way to do 'Weekend At Bernie's' in real life, which is hilarious. Not only that, he even named the character Bernie and made him wear sunglasses. None of the participants noticed which made it even funnier. This really is very entertaining. Derren is the best.

As a social conditioning experiment, I found this very interesting! As a human mental health experiment, I truly hope they were plants.

Seriously disturbing, yet very compelling.

Just watched this captivating and amazingly executed scenario.

Many skeptics say that this can't be real, without really saying why they think it's fake. They can't seem to imagine that this is how people act. However, it looks like this is how all kinds of people act. Don't take it from me or Derren Brown, just look up the Milgram experiment or one of many testimonies of people who went through civil war. It is eery how people seem to get along fine, until the system breaks down and authority figures pop up, telling you what to do. Suddenly these kinds of acts start happening everywhere. Just because you can't imagine it, doesn't mean it's not real. It seems good to be reminded of that.

Others object to the ethics of this show. Indeed, it seems borderline unethical, and I hope the participants were properly supported after the show. However, it is encouraging that the participants who pushed are clearly told that their behaviour was not at all 'strange' in this setup.

It has to be shocking to experience this. However, maybe we, the audience, could use a little shock to keep us on our toes. I know next time I make a mistake and I am deciding whether I admit it or cover it up, this show is going to play in the back of my mind.

The Guardian newspaper calls it patronising, among other things. I thought the narrative kept as grounded as spectators.

This show has parallels to The Hunger Games, except it's very real. I did feel bad for the unwitting participants but I also found it fascinating constantly telling myself I would have acted sooner to end it all.

The thing is, unless you're in that situation you'll never know.

Ethically it's certainly questionable and by watching it are we ironically the very thing the show is telling us not to be.

I am always skeptical of the reality of these experiments, but I must say that there seems to be no fiction in this experiment. People forget that these people were selected after a series of eliminations and they are inclined to obey rules. The ending is shocking because it makes you question your own morality. Are you ethical enough under severe conditions? How can we ignore other people's commands and continue in our own path? Now I am a fan of Derren Brown's experiments. Well-done.

While the ethics of this "experiment" are certainly questionable, it's still tremendously entertaining for outside viewers. By the end, my friend and I were both on the edge of our seats, hands trembling, as we awaited the climax. My only complaint was that some aspects of it were explained by the narrator a little too late (one instance being at least 15 minutes after the initial showing of the trick), but it didn't make the show any less exciting.

I see many people questioning it's reality and how this affects the contestants psychologically. But i assure everyone that an episode of this scale will not cause any psychological trauma as long as they know it's not real.

This is not entertainment, it is like watching a train wreck in slow motion. Step by step you see the victim pushed into compliance against their better judgment and morals. It is deeply disturbing and highly unethical. For the 3 victims who actually pushed a defenceless man off a building because they were manipulated into feeling there was no other option - they will be scarred for life by this. Shame on you, Derren Brown, for pretending that you are doing science when you are really making entertainment out of torturing these excessively agreeable (compliant) victims until they are like cornered rats.

This was shown on Channel Four in 2016... poor Netflix play :/

The idea of this experiment is brilliant. All the effort that makes this experiment come true is a miracle. A happy ending makes people relieved. A real ending makes people think.

This guy shouldn't be broadcasted by Netflix for basically threatening people to kill a human being. If a psychologist would propose this to the Ethics Committee, they would be fired immediately. It's just outrageous, if it's real.

Assuming that all four participants were not actors but unwilling participants - though they did consent to appear in Brown's next documentary, but we're told they're no longer chosen - this film was so insanely unethical that I cannot believe this program was shown on my Netflix feed! This type of social experiment is reminiscent of 1960s Milgram's Obedience to Authority experiments which were NEVER replicated due to ethics concerns! These four participants face a likelihood of developing severe PTSD and other trauma-related mental health and physical consequences! Where were licensed mental health professionals? Why weren't any psychological evaluations done of the participants before and after this "experiment"? How can Netflix put this up on their streaming platform and believe this is an ethically appropriate film to show millions of audiences??? I'm just so shocked and appalled by this film!

Hey, maybe this is an interesting experiment, maybe it makes an interesting movie (It was an enjoyable watch) but this event is TRAUMATIZING to those involved.

Assume that it is all real, running this experiment is questionable at best, but where was the psychologist on stand by after? Was any physiological support offered to the participants? Did the participants get an opportunity to talk to a trauma specialist right after the experiment ended? Vsause (YouTuber) ran an experiment in a similar vain. He had proper support for the participants after the experiment. This show did not or failed to show they took proper precautions. For this reason, it gets one star

PS: Watch the Vsauce video, it is very intresting

Come on people. Didn't we learn from the Milgram experiment in 1963 that putting people through this can ruin a persons life? And Derren did this to four people allegedly!!!

This saddens me that this kind of thing was ever made. The field of psychology has moved on, yes it is well know that human capacity to follow orders, though there is a spectrum of people who will and won't. This is obvious in how Derren weeds out people that will not comply. This show does not offer anything new, or any real insight so it becomes pure exploitation for the titillation of the audience at the expense of the victim of the show. I don't care what they might have signed when trying to get onto a Derren show, to put people into that position for the sake of entertainment, is not justified. If the purpose of the show is to inform people about human nature there are more ethical ways to do that.

Again look up The Milgram experiment for some background on this.

It's interesting how many people will believe this is actually true... I try but I can't.

Bad actors and slappy story, it looks fake from the beginning, it has some true tricks too make it believable but it doesn't succeeded.