‘The Great Experiment’ Review: A Fascinating Archival Chronicle of America Enduring Trump’s First Term

Home Film News Apr 12, 2026 6:31pm PT ‘The Great Experiment’ Review: A Fascinating Archival Chronicle of America Enduring Trump’s First Term Co-directed by Stephen Maing and Eric Daniel Metzgar, this collection of scenes from American life between 2017 and 2020 already plays as a period piece, while speaking plainly to the present. By Guy Lodge Plus Icon Guy Lodge Film Critic @guylodge Latest ‘Outcome’ Review: Keanu Reeves Is Loved by Everybody and Nobody in Jonah Hill’s Offputting Industry Satire 3 days ago ‘You, Me & Tuscany’ Review: Plenty of Sun but No Real Heat in a Rom-Com Outing for Halle Bailey and Regé-Jean Page 4 days ago ‘Bucks Harbor’ Review: A Wistful, Humane Portrait of Hardy Souls, Young and Old, in Coastal Maine 3 weeks ago See All Courtesy of Chorus of the Union Films Beginning with mass protests on one end of the political spectrum and ending with riots on the other, the four years of Donald Trump’s first presidential term added up to a substantial chapter of U.S. history, with or without the possibility of a reprise. At the halfway mark of his tumultuous second term, few would look back on that time with any sense of nostalgia, though they might marvel at just how drastically the tone and tenor of American political life have shifted in the last decade. A sprawling, disquieting reflection both on things we didn’t know then, and what we’ve since forgotten, Stephen Maing and Eric Daniel Metzgar‘s archival documentary “The Great Experiment” looks back with pensive distance on how Americans lived those years, capturing a country in uncertain, ongoing transition. Related Stories 'Percy Jackson' Star Walker Scobell Skipping Prom Because Fans Sent 'Death Threats' to 'Every Teenage Girl Who Could Remotely Be Associated With Me'